I went up to the forest early doors and despite the gloomier-than-forecast weather, it did not disappoint. The forest was alive with birdsong; spring is really gathering momentum with the mild weather. Song Thrushes, Chaffinches and Crossbills were belting out their songs, and the local Goshawks were active, chasing off young from last year in some high speed pursuits across the valley. One youngster, a male, flew directly over my head, but against the bright cloud was largely silhoutted. The territory-holding pair were calling continually, and engaging in plenty of display, but apart from some early views, most action over the other side of the valley.
Top two: adult female displaying. Bottom two, one of the harrassed young males, just trying to find his way in this busy forest.
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On the way back, I received a message that the Chapman family (Rob, Jane and Tom) had found a drake American Wigeon at Bubwith Ings. Great! Neil Cooper had seen one at Melbourne in mid-January; it was then seen again a day or two later on Bubwith Ings, but hadn't been seen since. The valley has been deeply flooded making birding tricky, so I guess it could have been hanging out unnoticed for a month. Alternatively, it might have had a trip to the Humber with some of the Wigeon, looking for better feeding, and had now returned. Either way, it made for a fine sight, chilling on the grassy edge of the flood with plenty of commoner cousins, quite unaware of the mini-twitch it had created! The gathered locals informed me that Tim Jones had just seen an adult Kittiwake feeding with the small gulls over the wet fields behind the flood - strange! I scanned through the flock which had just flushed, and picked up the Kitt, which flew along over the field before disappearing behind the trees. A smart, unexpected bonus - nice one Tim! I enjoyed a few more minutes of the American Wigeon, my first in the York area for five years.
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