Wintry Feel

Been some difficult stuff going on at home, so it was therapeutic to get out for a few hours on Saturday morning and then for an hour yesterday, just to clear my head. With westerlies, there have been a lot of Common Scoters heading overland, cutting across to the North Sea on their way back north for the summer. As is often the case, there have been a sprinkling of birds on local waterbodies, pausing for a rest. On Saturday, I hoped I might find one at Castle Howard Lake. I thought I'd drawn a blank until I noticed the pale cheek and spiky tail of a female snoozing among the frisky Tufted Ducks. The wind was strong and so the choppy water made the lake look like the sea, so I suspect she felt quite at home. 

 

Not much else going on here though a brave Sand Martin battled into the wind, and a Crossbill flew over 'chipping' emphatically. I spent the next little while at Wheldrake Ings, which yielded little in the way of summer migrants, with a female Scaup on the Pool pleasant but decidely wintry! 

 Yesterday, I didn't have much time so headed down to North Duffield. The two female Common Scoters found yesterday were still present, and I was pleased to see the wintering Spotted Redshank feeding along the bank. It is developing some sooty breast feathers now; I wonder how long it will linger before heading back to Scandinavia? 31 Whooper Swans were grazing the winter wheat, having presumably dropped in for a break on their way north. An immature female Peregrine was harrassing the ducks and at one point landed on the bank pretty close to the hide. Still no Garganey for me, but they are beginning to turn up now, so hopefully soon.

 

 

 

Peregrine, Whooper Swans, Spotted Redshank and Common Scoters, North Duffield Carrs

Craning

Friday (20th March) was my last Yorkshire Coast Nature Goshawk tour of the season. The day had started with thick fog, which really hampered proceedings, but we had a good morning, with Willow Tit, Crossbills and best of all, a showy Hawfinch, which alighted on the top of a tall tree right in front of the group. The fog lifted at lunchtime and three Goshawks suddenly appeared. An adult pair quickly saw off a young female, and once gone, they circled round and dropped back into cover. The afternoon was cold and overcast and we failed to find any more Goshawks. 

...

Sunday 22nd March 

 Despite the forecast, there was no fog to hamper my morning's birding, a change from the last couple of days. I headed down to North Duffield under bright skies, with a hope to see some early spring migrants, a Garganey or Crane perhaps. Duff was packed with birds; 150+ Black-tailed Godwits lined the bund in front of Garganey Hide, and nearby, the wintering Spotted Redshank was preening on the edge of the flood. It is a while since I have seen this bird, so it was nice to catch up with it again. Seven lingering White-fronted Geese were grazing the field behind the hide, but shortly flew onto the flood and mooched about in with the godwits. Three Ruff and a Dunlin were noted, and a couple of Marsh Harriers came along the river. Amongst the hordes of ducks, I failed to pick out a Garganey, or yesterday's Scaup.

 

Shortly, Ollie called to give me the head's up that seven Cranes were circling the Aughton poplars. Thanking him, I started to scan north and picked up the giant shapes high in the sky and heading towards Duff. Class! They started to descend, dropping dangly legs, and then circling round in front of the trees and down onto Aughton Ings. I decided to head round there to see if I could see them on the deck. A few minutes later, as I was driving down the lane to Aughton, the Cranes suddenly appeared overhead. I threw the car onto the verge and grabbed my scope. The birds were only 100m above me, looking like they might land again, but they began to gain height, heading first south and then high to the northeast, before turning back into the valley and following the river north. The calls of migrating Cranes rang out as they went. Simply majestic and exactly what I was hoping for! 

 

I followed them up the valley to East Cottingwith, but they had gone. 305 Black-tailed Godwits were roosting on the Wheldrake Ings refuge and as I left, the North Duff godwit flock powered in, with a whoosh of wings as they dropped as one, on to the refuge. A quick look at East Cottingwith Pond yielded six White-fronts happily grazing, with 50 Wigeon and a few Tufted Ducks on the water. Down at Ellerton, a real commotion in the pine copse to the south attracted my attention. 20 Carrion Crows were screaming from the tops of the deciduous trees; they were seriously unhappy about something. Suddenly, 20 or so Woodpigeons exploded from the copse in a panic and the nearby Wigeon erupted off the ings. A brown shape circled round and before I had chance to focus had dived back into the pine copse. More pigeons shot out and the crows went bananas. I couldn't be certain with the briefest of looks, but this felt like a Gos. I waited for half an hour but nothing appeared. The crows lost interest after a while and moved on, and I did likewise, and headed home. 

Hawking

It is Goshawk season, and when the sun shines, the birds are very active, re-establishing territories and booting out last year's young. As well as the aerial displays, the females have a tendency to sit conspicuously at this time of year, scanning the skies for intruding birds and can be located from a distance, like a vertical white streak in the trees. Last week, a real unit of a second calendar-year female was causing chaos in one of the regular territories I check, with the territory-holding adult sparring with her and chasing her rapidly across the valley. There was much stiff-winged display sometimes at impressive altitude. Yesterday, the young bird was flying about unchallenged and sitting prominently in the conifers. This was interesting; had she displaced the territory-holding female? Females compete for prime breeding territories and skilled males, so this is possible; they sometimes even kill each other. A young male, potentially this bird's sibling, was cruising around too, giving great views, even eyeing us as he circled overhead in an azure sky. Soon, the breeding females will go down on their nests and activity will reduce, with birds being more difficult to see until the young fledge later in the summer. For now, the activity is intense and exciting and great to watch. 

 

 

Top: Second calendar-year female Goshawk. Below, three shots of the same second calendar-year male who circled overhead looking down at us with suspicion. The streaked breast, mottled upperparts, indistinct head patterns and heavily barred and uniform secondaries help age these birds.

 

 

 

Egrets, I've had a few...

Finding scarce or rare birds relies on many things, but one of the key things is not to assume anything, keep an open mind and check things out. Yesterday, I made a mistake, and missed a good local 'find'. With the day off after a fabulous weekend leading Goshawk Tours for Yorkshire Coast Nature, I headed out locally, to the Lower Derwent Valley. I was met with misty, low cloud; not ideal, but it felt like there could be a few birds grounded along the ings. I decided to do a clockwise loop, as is my tradition if I have the time available, and travelled over to Elvington, where I crossed the falling river, through Sutton-on-Derwent to Hagg Bridge. I planned to stop here for a scan, but as the traffic lights changed to green I made a snap decision to continue without stopping. Looking momentarily to my right, I noticed a small, bright white blob in the flooded grassland. A gull perhaps, or possibly a Little Egret, although it looked small, so probably 'just' a gull. A few minutes later, I pulled up at East Cottingwith and walked round the footpath, checking through the finch flocks carefully for an errant Twite or Little Bunting. I switched my attention to the refuge across the Canal, where a few Goldeneyes dived amid a gathering of Tufted Ducks. About 50 Black-tailed Godwits flew in and landed out of sight on the near bank. Then, a message from Adam Firth: a Cattle Egret on the ings at Hagg Bridge. Drat! That was the white blob! Why hadn't I stopped to check? Cursing at my poor form, I stomped back to the car and drove the mile or so back to the bridge. Adam had gone, but sure enough, the Cattle Egret was stalking around catching frogs in the flood. Great to see, but very frustrating that I'd messed up. 

 

Back to the route and kicking myself repeatedly, I dropped in to Ellerton Church. It was still misty making viewing difficult. The floodwater had dropped markedly since I was last here, exposing tongues of muddy grassland attracting throngs of Teal, Wigeon and Pintail. Some waders caught my eye moving among the ducks; first one, then three Ruff. A slightly larger wader surprised me when it lifted its head to reveal a long upturned bill. A Bar-tailed Godwit? Surely not. This rare coastal wader usually passes through in April, so an early March record would be unusual. 

 

The murky visibility was not helping, but the hunched, short-legged stature looked good as did the hint of streaking on the upperparts and long primary projection. I needed the bird to fly to confirm my suspicion, and thankfully, it soon flushed, revealing the plain, unmarked wings, white back and rump and classic barred tail, completely different from the more regular Black-tailed Godwits that frequent the ings. I put the news out and grinned, having restored a little self-respect. A Great Egret flew past, which reminded me of my earlier cock-up. 

 On to Aughton and a big flock of Pochards were cavorting out on the ings. A quick count yielded 240 birds, although I am sure there were more hidden behind the coppice and willows. Two first-winter drake Scaup were present too, one of which was advanced, almost adult-like, with the other still in drab brown plumage, with only some grey mantle feathers coming through.  

 Next up, North Duffield Ings which was thwarted by a large wagon parked right across the pull-in, so I headed down to the Carrs instead. Here I bumped into Alan Whitehead and we chatted for a bit and enjoyed the birding. The two Scaup flew in with a bunch of Pochards from Aughton and a large flock of geese got up from behind the trees. The majority were Pink-feet and they headed off north, whereas at least 80 White-fronted Geese circled round and dropped back in to the fields. 

It was time to head back, walk the hound and do a few jobs. There is nothing like the draw of birding to get things done quickly, so with jobs ticked off, I shot down to Thorganby (quiet except for a Peregrine) and then to Wheldrake Ings, which was absolutely heaving with birds! Thousands of Wigeon and Teal packed the shallow floods, interspersed with elegant Pintail and shovelling Shovelers. Marsh Harriers caused mayhem as usual. I bumped into Andy Massey who told me the Cattle Egret was now next to Swantail Hide and sure enough, when I arrived there a little later, I found it resting next to a Little Egret and adjacent to four Great Egrets! This was nuts; any of these birds would have been almost fanciful when I birded here as a kid, so to see all three together was a clear sign of how things are changing. Cool to see, but worrying at the same time, as climate change is driving these birds north and making our climate more habitable for them. 

A huge flock of Black-tailed Godwits flew in and swirled about wickering loudly, and looking incredible in the late afternoon sun. A careful count revealed at least 860 birds, an impressive number. Three Dunlin and forty Golden Plovers were mixed in with the godwits. I found out later that there were 400 Blackwits to the north of the valley, so there is 1260 in the LDV currently - wow! What a place this is. 

 

Still no Sand Martins for me, but several Chiffchaffs singing today, my first 'chipping' Snipe, lots of singing Curlews and excited Oystercatchers. Spring is coming! I drove back stoked with the day I'd had on my doorstep, filled with quality birds in a wonderful landscape. I learnt a lesson today too, one that I won't forget in a hurry. Good birding, folks!

 

 

 

 

Mixed Parentage

A report of a Harlequin Duck at Hes East on 27th February, was worth checking out as it was clearly something unusual, perhaps a female Velvet Scoter, though if it was a Harlequin, there was no chance it would be wild. Anyway, moments before I arrived Chris messaged to say it was a hybrid, and sure enough, a few minutes later I was watching what was quite a striking duck, swimming around with the Gadwall. With an orange body and a white-spotted dark green head, it didn't really look anything like a Harlequin, but was a smart bird nevertheless. It turned out this was a Wigeon x Shoveler, or possibly American Wigeon x Shoveler and had been seen in various parts of Yorkshire over the past few years. A scan around revealed little else of note besides the common ducks, with no sign of yesterday's Sand Martin.