Kronk

Yesterday, a visit to Castle Howard was rather quiet, apart from a typically-noisy Cetti's Warbler, erupting occasionally from the reedbed. A female Pintail among the Wigeon was notable, and my first Goldeneye of the winter - eight - were nice to see. No Hawfinches were in the Arboretum car park, so I headed back to the LDV. I only had an hour before I was due to pick up Sol, so I opted to sit in Cheesecake Hide at Bank Island. This proved to be successful, with the highlights being a Raven kronking it's way east, closely followed by a second bird which was loudly calling it's mate to wait! I dashed out of the hide and managed a bit of phone video as it went over. Also, a fine juvenile Marsh Harrier was harrying the ducks and waders, which included a Black-tailed Godwit, 25+ Snipe and c50 Lapwings. Two Whooper Swans flew south.

 

Bishopthorpe has turned up a couple of good birds in the last few days. On Thursday, a lunchtime walk with Luna revealed a Cetti's Warbler calling from the ditch near the allotments, whilst the rumoured Great Egret near the football pitches turned out to be true, with a fine adult stalking round in the adjacent ploughed field on Friday afternoon. The same bird was present again as I left for Castle Howard on Saturday morning.

 

Earlier on Friday, I was working up in the Yorkshire Dales, meeting a local farmer who was interested in supplying a few hardy cattle to graze a new nature reserve I've just bought for the Trust. Whilst there, we flushed a Woodcock, saw a Dipper pootling along the gill and best of all, a female Hen Harrier quartering the rough grassland on the south side of the reserve! Excellent. 

 

I then drove a bit further along the road and spied a fine male Black Grouse perched on a field gate. This is the first I've seen in this part of the Dales, so hopefully my plans to plant more berry-bearing bushes etc will help these lovely birds.

Last Sprites

November has arrived, with a flood of winter thrushes and a notable arrival of Hawfinches. The landscape is golden, with the senescent leaves lighting the hedgerows, thickets and copses with burning fire tones. 

It isn't quite the end of autumn, but with the clocks having changed, it certainly feels like the beginning of the end of autumn. A stomp round Flamborough on Saturday morning yielded typical late autumn migrants, lifting my melancholy brought on by the shortening days. Every migrant is a miniature marvel of physiological stamina and navigation and the hardships they endure is beyond our experiences and fills me with wonder. 

 A loop of Old Fall and then Thornwick was the plan and as always, didn't disappoint. Woodcocks dashed up the hedges in front of me, hedges that were clad in Norse Blackbirds and steely foreign Song Thrushes. A few Goldcrests defied gravity, hanging among the last few Willow leaves to glean unseen aphids and spiders, oblivious to my presence and delight. 

 A single Yellow-browed Warbler had found the only Hawthorn in Old Fall to hang on to its leaves, and rapidly morphed into two birds, zipping around the small bush. Delightful sprites as ever, and most likely the last I will see this autumn. It has been such a thrill to see good numbers of these little warblers again this autumn after a couple of poor years.

A Wheatear that flicked past was only unusual because of its tardiness; I was hoping for something rarer at this time of year. A few Bramblings were seen during the day, but it was 2pm before the fresh wave of last night's migrants made landfall, with a garrulous flock of 50 Redwings tumbling westwards, joyous at having reached land and safety - for now. Several bnoisy Fieldfares appeared too, along with more Blackbirds and more Song Thrushes. It was time for me to head west too, happy with my last sprites of the autumn, and feeling ready to welcome the winter.