Birding the Lower Derwent Valley has been challenging in the last few weeks due to deep flooding, following lots of rain and some snow last month. Wheldrake Ings and Bank Island are inaccessible as is Garganey Hide at North Duffield, which is now almost completely underwater.
Today, the scene from Geoff Smith Hide at Duff was impressive, with virtually the entire western floodbank inundated. Despite the deep flooding, there were plenty of ducks about and a Great Crested Grebe was notable; they are scarce in the valley in winter. Several hundred Fieldfares and Redwings were gorging on Hawthorn berries around the car park where I saw a Willow Tit on Wednesday.
I headed down to Bubwith Bridge and looked south onto North Duffield Ings, where some remaining grassland had pulled in lots of waders. Most obvious were over 2,000 Lapwings, which blackened the grass with their hordes. Among these, a golden-brown streak was a group of 500 Golden Plovers.
Feeding along the water's edge were 16 Ruff and over 70 Dunlin. As I counted the Ruff, I noticed another medium-sized wader - a Spotted Redshank! Not something I had expected and being rare in winter in the York area, this was a treat. It fed actively in the shallow water, exhibiting its striking head pattern and needle-fine bill. I put the news out and continued to scan, noting several Redshanks feeding on the far side of the grass. The Spotshank stuck with the Ruff, even when some of the Redshank moved on to the same shoreline. A Curlew dropped in, to add to the wader-fest, and a quick count revealed 11 Redshank in total. Out on the water, at least 50 Pintails were loafing among the hordes of Teal and Wigeon. Four Shoveler and a Great Egret were also present. The Spotshank made its way closer and allowed me to get a bit of reasonable video, despite the murky conditions. A lovely bird.
Nearby, a Grey Heron had caught a small mammal, which it was trying to swallow. Looking through my scope, I realised it was a Mole, presumably flooded out of it's tunnel.
Spotted Redshank, most likely an adult.
A Common Redshank by way of comparison.
Snack Mole
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