Wood Sand Wonder

The continued easterly wind has brought chilly weather but also an influx of Scandinavian migrants driftd into the UK on their way north. Heading the throng was a couple of days of impressive Black Tern passage, which managed to avoid me completely, in fact, the York area only had two records, one at Castle Howard (annoyingly a few hours after I'd checked the site for that species) and two at Allerthorpe GP. The lack of water in the valley perhaps was the issue, with long vegetation and weeks of no rain meaning there was little to attract passing birds. More evident, however, were Wood Sandpipers. Always a scarce bird in York, we have enjoyed a bumper crop, with at least five in the Wheldrake area at the start of the month, commuting between Bank Island and the Ings, plus a number of birds elsewhere. On 1st May, three graced Wheldrake Ings along with a sooty-black Spotted Redshank in the grass out from Tower Hide. Best of all, was my first at Acaster Airfield Flash on the 3rd, which has held water despite the drought. It is a decent walk to the flash and most times I get there and it holds a solitary Shelduck or Yellow Wagtail, so this was great, as was the Greenshank the same day. 

 Greenshank at Acaster Airfield

 Wood Sandpiper at Acaster Airfield

 

A late Wheatear at the airield.

A Ringed Plover on a random wet corner of an arable field north of York was my first of the year and added to my growing York yearlist. 

 

Brown Hare, Acaster Airfield. Good numbers of these lagomorphs are present at the Airfield.

Crane again

It has been a good spring for Cranes locally, with this individual hanging around in the LDV a little while and occasionally dropping in to feed and roost at Wheldrake Ings.

 

April Weeks

Three weeks have gone by, three tricky weeks for the Leadley gang, but the outlook is bright now, like the weather. In amongst family stuff, I've got some birding in, and the local action has been exciting, with new migrants appearing daily, along with a scattering of scarcities. It has been an early spring, migrant-wise, with some southerly airflows and plumes of warm air originating in North Africa, providing a northbound escalator for homeward-bound birds. My earliest ever Sedge Warbler chittered from a reedy Wheldrake ditch on 7th April, the same day as the Swallows returned to Tower Hide. My first Swallow was a few days earlier, on the 3rd, the same day as the silvery cascade of a Willow Warbler trickled forth from a riverside willow. 

Up in the Dales, a male Redstart singing at Park Gill on the 10th, was my second earliest ever, and I enjoyed my first Wheatears of the spring the same day. A Whitethroat at East Cottingwith on the 11th and a Reed and Garden Warblers on the 16th were all my earliest records. Spring is undoubtedly arriving earlier! Besides the regular migrants, a few scarce birds have added a bit of spice, with waders featuring: a Grey Plover at North Duffield Carrs on the 4th was intriguingly the same date as the one I saw on the refuge at Wheldrake Ings last year, with an individual there on 1st April in 2024. These birds are creatures of habit, so this could well be the same bird, passing through the valley in early April each year. Seven Greenshanks on the Refuge at Wheldrake was a cracking spring count on the 5th, preceding a pair of Avocets which appeared at Duff on the 7th; I watched them fly high south at 10.33am, presumably heading for the Humber.  

 

Dodgy, distant wader photos: Grey Plover (4th April), Greenshanks (5th April), Avocets (7th April), all LDV.

Big numbers of hirundines gathered at Wheldrake mid-month, as poor weather forced them to seek food low over the water. Up to 2000 Sand Martins, along with c40 Swallows and a dozen House Martins provided a fantastic spectacle, although my efforts to extract a Red-rumped Swallow or a Crag Martin failed.  

 Sand Martins, Wheldrake.

Today (19th), with a brisk northwesterly wind, I headed first to Castle Howard, where two Common Sandpipers were my first of the year. A Great Egret stalked the reedbed and 40 Tufted Ducks loafed on the water. Both Reed and Cetti's Warblers sang from the reedbed at the west end. 

 

I headed next to Thornton, where seven Wheatears were bouncing around in a ploughed field, whilst Corn Buntings jangled from the wires overhead. A sunbathing Tawny Owl caught my eye on an old broken Alder, whilst watching a Snipe singing from a fencepost.

Two Whimbrels were feeding in the usual grassy pastures near Storwood as I passed on the way to East Cottingwith. These guys are regular as clockwork, pausing on their way to Iceland, to fatten up on local worms, before the last leg of their migration. With the breeze picking up, I thought it would be worth a while at the Refuge in case a Kittiwake or Arctic Tern dropped in to rest on the floodwater. Neither did, but two Cuckoos showed brilliantly in the trees next to the canal, and best of all, a female Osprey appeared out of nowhere, hovering right overhead as she scanned the water for food. She drifted off south, mobbed by a Red Kite. Amazing! Thirty Black-tailed Godwits, four Pintails and a pair of Grey Partridges were also present. Down at Duff, thirty more Blackwits were present along with five tardy Whooper Swans.  

 

 

 

Cuckoos, and Osprey, 19th April. 

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. 

 

Early Spring

A hint of early spring in the air, with Grey Herons nest-building at Castle Howard with a backdrop of head-tossing Goldeneyes and melanocholy Mistle Thrushes braving the treetops to sing. With rain, a strong wind and overcast skies it still felt pretty wintry to me though! A few more ducks today on the lake, with 100+ Tufted Ducks, 10 Gadwall, 12 Wigeon, 4 Mandarin and a single Pochard. 

I headed over to Newburgh Priory Lake on the off chance of seeing a Tundra Bean Goose that had been reported last Saturday, and to my surprise it was swimming around nonchalantly with a Pink-footed Goose and a few Greylags.  It has been a great winter for Tundra Beans locally, but this is the best view I've had by far. The larger head, dark around the bill and hefty black nozzle with smart orange band were all absorbed, along with the dark brown upperparts with neat white fringing. The Pinkfoot's head was distinctly smaller and seemingly out of proportion to the body, with a pink bill patch and a buffy breast. Also noted, several Shelduck, 50+ Herring Gulls and a spectacular 22 Moorhens!

 Tundra Bean Goose. Smart bird.

 

Unlucky for Some

Friday 13th, traditionally unlucky for some, but not me as I had the day off. Checked my regular winter spots, starting at Castle Howard where the adult Shag was still present and showing well in the pouring rain. Not much else of note really, though still plenty of Tufted Ducks, Goldeneye and seven Pochards. Down the LDV, two good York year-ticks in the form of a Knot feeding along the edge of the river south of Bubwith Bridge and an adult winter Little Gull at North Duffield Carrs. I don't see either of these birds every year in the York area, so it was good to catch up with them. The Tundra Bean Goose flock at Duff had increased to 32 and they flew over me as I walked down to the hide. After a bit of a fly around, they landed right at the back as per usual. The Spotted Redshank was still present on the river and at least one Scaup was at Duff. Later, I tried wading through to the bridge at Wheldrake to do the roost. It was very distant and I only managed an adult Lesser Black-back for my trouble. 

 

 

What No White-fronts?

For once it wasn't raining, so I headed up to Castle Howard, hoping for a Smew or Lesser Scaup. Good numbers of ducks, including 140 Tufties were present, but sadly nothing rarer. Two Shags, including the blue-ringed adult were still present. Several Grey Heron pairs were busy displaying and nest-building; they'll be egg laying soon. No sign of any Hawfinches in the Arboretum car park.

Cormorant. The shape of the lower bird's gular patch shows this to be a British Carbo individual, looking very handsome in its breeding attire.

Adult Shag.

I headed down to the valley and spent a bit of time checking cover crops for finches and Merlins. The fields around East Cottingwith was surprisingly devoid of geese, though 300 Pink-feet flew over. A Kingfisher was hunting down the canal and a Cetti's Warbler scolded me from the usual reedbed, but otherwise things were fairly quiet. 

Chris reported a Little Gull down at Duff, but it had gone south, so I went down to North Duffield Ings to see if it had dropped in. It hadn't. The Spotted Redshank was feeding along the river, with ten Curlews and 18 Redshank. Also present, c150 Black-tailed Godwits, three Oystercatchers and loads of Golden Plovers and Lapwings. Down to Duff, and the Little Gull hadn't reappeared, but the Slavonian Grebe had turned up again (not sure where it had got to yesterday!) and was showing beautifully in front of Garganey Hide. 22 (!) Tundra Bean Geese were loafing out the back and the lingering Scaup trio were still among the Aythya flock. Shortly, I headed home having seen no White-fronted Geese, but having had a phenomenal morning in the local area. 

 

Hot Roost

Last week I waded to Wheldrake Ings bridge to do the gull roost, but it was a disaster, with all the gull arse-on way out in front of the unreachable Tower Hide. Yesterday, the floods had dropped a bit exposing a couple of spits of land which attracted many of the arriving large gulls. At least five Caspian Gulls were present, including an adult, but sadly there was no sign of yesterday's Iceland Gull. A smart adult Mediterranean Gull was the pick of the rest, and it was good to see a few 'Northern' Argentatus Herring Gulls too, among the 500 Argenteus types. Three Lesser Black- backs, 20 Great Black-backs and 8 Goosander were also noted.

 Adult Caspian Gull, at the back.

 

Three first-winter Caspian Gulls

 Med Gull. 

Get Lucky!

When will this miserable wet weather end? It has been raining for ages and today was no different, but, despite the  Iheaded out with a Yorkshire Coast Nature group into the LDV. First up, North Duff, with vast floods, peppered with ducks. I found the three drake Scaup, all of which are looking fairly smart now, among a loafing flock of Tudfties. Shortly, news came through from Tim Jones that a collossal flock of 300ish White-fronted Geese were in the field just down the path, behind Garganey Hide! We headed down there and sure enough, a carpet of dapper Whitefronts, along with two cute Barnacle Geese, were busy feeding in the field. This is the biggest flock I have ever seen in the UK, and with close views, we all enjoyed the treat. It seems a second wave has come in from the continent, which is a surprise as it isn't particularly cold over there, but the east wind has continued, which may have something to do with it.

 

 

We headed up the east side of the valley, but called off the tour by lunchtime due to the awful weather. I headed back down to Duff for another look at the geese and to get out of the rain. They eyed me warily as I crept along the path, but soon settled down to feed once I'd stopped to look. There were good numbers of first-winters in the flock, lacking the white forehead blaze and black belly stripes, contrasting with some old adults, with extensive black bellies- see last pic. Having made sure there were no Greenland Whitefronts or Lesser Whitefronts lurking among them, I went down to the hide to escape the rain and scoff my lunch. 

 

Scanning the flood which was being whipped up by the blustery wind into something resembling the North Sea, I was amazed to find a Slavonian Grebe. Not what I'd expected at all. It was distant and hanging out with the Scaup - maybe it recognised them from its usual maritime winter home. I watched it for the next hour as it swam first to one side of the flood and then back to the other. Fortunately, despite the chop and the distance, it was easy to follow as it rarely dived. Meanwhile, the Whitefronts flew over the hide and landed in the northeast corner of the ings. At one point, the Slav swam into the bay in front of them, giving a slightly unique combo in the York area; this was sublime for such a dreary wet day!

On a roll, I felt I should check out Castle Howard. The rain was even heavier as I walked along the lake and I did question my sanity for being out birding. I soon found two Shags, the white-ringed adult (JTN) and a first-winter, roosting with about 20 Cormorants on the island. The female Red-crested Pochard and 33 Goldeneyes were the only other birds of note. Not a bad day considering the dreadful weather.

 

Two Shags, with a Cormorant in the front, Castle Howard, 6th Feb 2026