Yep, the Swifts are back! It is always such a joy to see their scimitar forms arcing across the sky. Yesterday, I counted six high over North Duffield Carrs, cruising around catching insects high over the wet meadows. The weather has been fine and is warming up next week, so I expect many more to pour in from the south. Hopefully, our birds may show up at home.
North Duff was relatively quiet apart from the Swifts, a single Whimbrel east, 4 Ruff, with Lesser Whitethroat new for the year and still lots of Teal and Wigeon around, despite dwindling water levels. On to Wheldrake, where a Hobby was the pick of the bunch, besides my first Garden Warbler of the year, Cuckoo and three or four Reed Warblers in the reedbed.
Garganey have been really thin on the ground this spring. There has been a solitary male at Wheldake, showing off and on, flying about looking for a mate. I wonder if rain in Spain has held many of our birds back in the Med? Time will tell.
Little Egrets are pouring back into the LDV, with many heading for their breeding colony. One over my house last week was a garden tick, as was a male Peregrine that rode the updraught in front of a large thunder cloud one evening. A couple of Great Egrets are still gracing the valley; maybe one day they will breed.
This Peregrine got my scampering back indoors to get my bins and camera as it soared over the house.
This Grey Plover was a great find by Duncan Bye on the refuge at Wheldrake Ings on 4th April. Grey Plovers are scarce in the York area and don't often hang around, so this bird bucked the trend and hung around all day.
It has been a good spring for Teal, with good numbers still around at the time of typing. I counted 380+ at Wheldrake Ings the other night for instance. They really are smart little ducks.
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