I was greeted by overcast skies and a cold northerly wind blowing as I headed out for some local birding. North Duffield Carrs was quiet, save for an adult female Peregrine, two Marsh Harriers and some chipping Snipe. Wildfowl numbers were well down, with only six Pintail among the 150 Wigeon and 50 Teal.
Reports were coming in from elsewhere of lots of Kittiwakes, dumped on inland waters by the northerlies. This attractive gull is scarce in the York area so I decided to make haste and check as many watery patches as I could find in the York area. There were no gulls at North Duff, so next up, Aughton Ings. There was little of note at Aughton either, and certainly no pelagic gulls, so I moved on to East Cottingwith, to have a look at the Wheldrake Ings refuge.
My first sighting was Duncan standing scoping the refuge from the path near Pool Hide, directly opposite me. A few gulls were loafing at the northern end of the refuge, so I swung my scope round to them and immediately noticed the persil-white head, lemony beak and black wingtips of a Kittiwake! And another - there was a small group, mixed in with some Common Gulls; six in all.
I quickly rang Duncan to alert him and whilst speaking on the phone, they took flight. Oh no! Thankfully, they circled back round and landed in the middle of the flood, giving great views. A couple of times one or two birds started displaying and the distinctive cry of 'kittiwake' echoed across the ings - a strange sound to hear at this site!
Kittiwakes are always a good bird to find inland, being one of the most marine gulls. It seems that strong winds and poor weather can dump birds inland during the winter, but northerly or northeasterly winds during March and April can turn up birds too. Presumably these birds are cutting across country on the way back to nesting sites on the east coast, and pause for a much-needed rest, after battling into a headwind. A flock like this is pretty normal, as this species is very sociable, migrating in groups, sometimes numbering hundreds. In Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, a flock of 140 was seen today, for instance.
In the York area, they have become scarcer since the turn of the century, perhaps reflecting the national decline in population. However, their occurence is linked closely to the weather at specific times of year, so that may be the main influencing factor. The record count for the York area is a flock of 31 at Wheldrake Ings on 25th January 1994, with further flocks including 15 on 17th April 1992, 17 on 24th March 1985, both of which were at Wheldrake.
Besides the Kitts, eleven Black-tailed Godwits were flying around and I was sure I heard Raven croaking but I couldn't pick it up. Several Sand Martins were sheltering from the wind behind the tall trees near the canal and a couple of Chiffchaffs were singing.
Later on, I dropped in at Hes East hoping for further Kittiwakes, but sadly there were none present. Maybe this was a bit too much to ask! Four Lesser Black-backed Gulls, seven Sand Martins and a couple of Great Crested Grebes were the only birds of note.
LBBG.
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