Sunday, 25 February 2018
What no Glaucs?
A bitterly cold easterly made 0.5deg C feel like -5 this afternoon at Wheldrake Ings. What a great day to forget my gloves! Fortunately, the ever-prepared Duncan had a spare pair which saved me from frostbite and meant I was able to withstand the full force of the biting wind blowing straight in our faces until dusk. Andy Walker pulled the best bird out of the bag, a first winter Iceland Gull, which I am sure was the same bird I saw a few weeks ago. Stacks of Common and Black-headed gulls again, though not many large gulls, so the Iceland was a surprise. Still no Glaucous Gull, I am beginning to worry I won't get one this winter. Most of the time, all the gulls were arse-on, facing away into the east wind, so not easy to look through. Other bits; c200 Dunlins, 9 Ruff, 10 Shelduck, 1 Goldeneye.
Distant first-winter Iceland Gull out on Swantail from Tower Hide.
I don't take plastic
My afternoon trip to Wheldrake Ings was diverted to North Duffield Carrs thanks to Mark Coates letting me know a birder had found a female Red-crested Pochard. This would be a new York area bird for me, so worth a look. I messaged a few people and soon joined global birder Andy Walker in Garganey Hide where we soon picked up the duck. Disappointingly, the bird was leucistic and hanging out with the local Mallards, so presumably was not long out of captivity, and not quite the grade to make it on to my York list. A bit plastic, in other words.
Nevertheless, I spent an enjoyable hour or so at NDC chatting to Andy, with good views of a juvenile Peregrine, stacks of Pintails and my first LDV Oystercatchers of the spring. I tried out my new phone with a bit of phonescoping, which worked well. I have made an adaptor using my lens hood superglued to a cheap phone case. This worked well, particularly when combined with the voice commands, meaning I didn't have to touch the phone at all to take a pic. Sadly, the distance of most stuff undermines the quality of some of the potential, but the Chaffinch pic I took in the garden this morning demonstrates that this could be pretty cool.
Phone scoped Chaffinch, using Samsung A5 down a Ziess 60 Scope, on 20x.
Plastic fantastic RCP.
Distant Peg
Oyks, Curlews etc enjoying the late winter sunshine.
Nevertheless, I spent an enjoyable hour or so at NDC chatting to Andy, with good views of a juvenile Peregrine, stacks of Pintails and my first LDV Oystercatchers of the spring. I tried out my new phone with a bit of phonescoping, which worked well. I have made an adaptor using my lens hood superglued to a cheap phone case. This worked well, particularly when combined with the voice commands, meaning I didn't have to touch the phone at all to take a pic. Sadly, the distance of most stuff undermines the quality of some of the potential, but the Chaffinch pic I took in the garden this morning demonstrates that this could be pretty cool.
Sunday, 18 February 2018
Dusk at the Ings
Headed back to Wheldrake Ings for the roost. An adult Yellow-legged Gull plus two Mediterranean Gulls (an adult and an advanced first winter) were the best. Surprisingly no Glaucous or Iceland Gulls came in by 5.15pm, although the numbers of large gulls was relatively low c300. The gull roost is spectacular currently, with c5,000 Common Gulls and c5,000 Black-headed Gulls making up the bulk. A Barn Owl on the way out of Wheldrake village at dusk,was nice to see.
First-winter Med Gull (with dark eye mask)
Adult Med Gull showing white primaries.
Gulls were flushed by an inflatable pink flamingo that dropped in just after 5pm. Randomly.
Dawn at the Ings
Despite the fog in Bishopthorpe, I resisted the urge to return to bed and headed as planned to Wheldrake Ings. A Bittern had been reported early morning a couple of days ago, so I thought this would be worth a try. The Ings looked eerie in the early morning light, with a low mist hanging over the meadows. Most of the shallow water was frozen although large areas remained ice-free. Large numbers of gulls were departing as I walked along the river-side path to Tower Hide. I had a quick look but soon carried on round to Swantail where the light was much better. There was no sign of the Bittern in the reedbed, though I was not surprised. Out on the water, there were far fewer ducks than I have seen recently, though Gadwall, Pochard and Tufted Duck numbers had increased.
After much scanning, I suddenly noticed the vertical white breast stripe of a drake Green-winged Teal among the throng of common stuff. Another birder had joined me in the hide shortly before, so I told him about it. The Teal promptly swam into the reeds and out of sight -typical! Fortunately, the bird was very active, and soon swam back out into full view, with a gang of male Teal that were busy displaying to a couple of females. The GWT had a similar display to the Eurasian birds, with the body lift and head jerk, but without the tail flourish. For the next twenty minutes the bird performed well, off and on, as it swam about. I had major fogging issues with my scope and so my dodgy digiscoped images were dodgier than normal, though you can just about make it out. I was starting to freeze, so I headed back, with a pause in Tower Hide to look through the Wigeon, now the light was better.
Saturday, 17 February 2018
Unexpected Caspo
An hour down at Rufforth to try and find a Glaucous Gull for my York year list failed, despite the gulls showing well in the flooded sheep field opposite the tip. However, a better bird was on offer in the form of an adult Caspian Gull, that suddenly appeared among the Herring Gull throng. A smart bird, with characteristic high-chested, sloping backed profile, small head and long thin, pale-yellow bill with a dark subterminal mark. A glimpse of the long pale tongue on P10 as the bird preened proved the ID, though it was barely needed as I had no doubt. This is my first Caspian Gull of the winter; they have been rare this season, although I haven't put in a lot of time. Three Lesser Black-backs were a sign of spring and a noticeable reduction in Great Black-backs suggested birds were beginning to head north to breed.
Caspian Gull, typically large and distinctive.
Monday, 12 February 2018
Norfolk Larks
Cracking Norfolk weekender aboard the good ship Albatross, with birdo mates Dunc Poyser, Ben Green, Mark Hawkes. Absolutely freezing, rainy and dreary on the Saturday, absolutely freezing, windy and sunny on Sunday, dreary later. But still freezing. I think this weight loss thing is making me colder. Must eat more pies!
Brents in the sun at Cley, on Sunday morning.
Hit and miss with twitching others' birds, with Parrot Crossbills, Lesser Peckers and Otters failing to show despite two attempts at Santon Downham, along with absentee Goshawks nearby in the Brecks and the vanishing Cley Black Brant. We did better with Massingham Hawfinches, Ringstead Tundra Bean Goose (which revived my confidence in picking up this taxon from thousands of Pinks in a dull field), Chosely Hooded Crow (which we thought was a hybrid due to lots of black on the underparts, which turned out to be water!), Letheringsett Coue's Arctic Redpoll, Holkham Shore Larks etc.
The good ship Albatross, Wells.
The good ship birdo wagon. All good except the flat tyre on day two....
Santon Downham minus anything of note....
...apart from this showy Water Rail.
And at Ringstead, the Pink-footed Geese piled into this field on a dreary Norfolk afternoon.
But after 30 minutes of effort my scope latched on to this orange-legged beauty.
Getting everybody on to it in this featureless field was less than easy.
But fortunately it stood briefly near this half-eaten beet
Holkham Gap Shore Lark. We eventually tracked the nine down to the eastern end of the saltmarsh, where we left them being hounded by two field-craft-less camera twonks.
Hit and miss with twitching others' birds, with Parrot Crossbills, Lesser Peckers and Otters failing to show despite two attempts at Santon Downham, along with absentee Goshawks nearby in the Brecks and the vanishing Cley Black Brant. We did better with Massingham Hawfinches, Ringstead Tundra Bean Goose (which revived my confidence in picking up this taxon from thousands of Pinks in a dull field), Chosely Hooded Crow (which we thought was a hybrid due to lots of black on the underparts, which turned out to be water!), Letheringsett Coue's Arctic Redpoll, Holkham Shore Larks etc.
Sunday, 4 February 2018
A. gentilis
After a quick look at Castle Howard (10 Mandarin, 6 Goosander, 1 Pink-footed Goose and a Marsh Tit!), I headed up to Wykeham to look for Goshawks. As soon as I got out of the car, an immature male and adult male were over the trees to the north sparring in the early morning light.
I spent the next three hours watching several birds circling around, occasionally sky-dancing, sparring with each other and generally putting on a great show. The adult male did a series of nine fast switchbacks across the valley before landing in full view in a bare larch, where he perched for about half an hour. On my side of the valley his mate, a rather large female, flirted with the young male, flapping around stiff-winged with puffed out white undertail coverts and a tightly closed tail. The young male was pushing his luck and shortly the adult male roared across the valley and chased him off, blazing across the tops of the trees. The young chancer wouldn't be back in a hurry! My phone broke and I could feel hyperthermia setting in, so I left the still displaying Goshawks and headed home.
Immature male (top) and adult male Goshawks.
I spent the next three hours watching several birds circling around, occasionally sky-dancing, sparring with each other and generally putting on a great show. The adult male did a series of nine fast switchbacks across the valley before landing in full view in a bare larch, where he perched for about half an hour. On my side of the valley his mate, a rather large female, flirted with the young male, flapping around stiff-winged with puffed out white undertail coverts and a tightly closed tail. The young male was pushing his luck and shortly the adult male roared across the valley and chased him off, blazing across the tops of the trees. The young chancer wouldn't be back in a hurry! My phone broke and I could feel hyperthermia setting in, so I left the still displaying Goshawks and headed home.
Sunday, 28 January 2018
Northern visitors
Took Friday afternoon off, as I was owed some time off in lieu and wouldn't get chance to do any birding over the weekend. The water was up at Wheldrake Ings as the snow on the North York Moors had melted suddenly with the rising temperatures, so I donned my borrowed waders to traverse the large flood at the bottom of the lane and in the car park.
The main meadow
The meadow was literally covered in birds (and water) with large numbers of Lapwings feeding out on the grass, interspersed with the golden-spangled dumpy forms of Golden Plovers. To my surprise, eight Barnacle Geese were grazing too. Always great to see, these handsome small geese seemed quite wary and flighty, and I pondered their origin. Perhaps Svalbard, perhaps Hes East on the outskirts of York! The Derwent was pouring angrily across the riverside path in many places and spreading across the Ings. Floodplain meadows in action!
Eight wary Barnies. Handsome geese no matter the origin.
Spot the Black-wit!
I spent an enjoyable couple of hours in the Tower Hide until it got dark, with a first-winter Iceland Gull the highlight, along with a single Black-tailed Godwit among the plovers, a solitary Pink-foot in with the Greylags, a good count of 270 Pintail and several Goldeneye.
The Iceland Gull was intriguing. At first I thought it was a Glaucous Gull as it appeared quite bulky, with a decent tertial step, but the head was small and mostly dark bill slight giving it a most un-Glaucous-like appearance.
The meadow was literally covered in birds (and water) with large numbers of Lapwings feeding out on the grass, interspersed with the golden-spangled dumpy forms of Golden Plovers. To my surprise, eight Barnacle Geese were grazing too. Always great to see, these handsome small geese seemed quite wary and flighty, and I pondered their origin. Perhaps Svalbard, perhaps Hes East on the outskirts of York! The Derwent was pouring angrily across the riverside path in many places and spreading across the Ings. Floodplain meadows in action!
The Iceland Gull was intriguing. At first I thought it was a Glaucous Gull as it appeared quite bulky, with a decent tertial step, but the head was small and mostly dark bill slight giving it a most un-Glaucous-like appearance.
Tuesday, 23 January 2018
Local bird news
Some bits of news to report. 38 White-fronted Geese flew past me on arrival at East Cottingwith on 14th January, heading south down the valley. Duncan Bye had seen them a few minutes earlier fly through Bank Island. Despite a good look round the valley, I couldn't refind them. Not much else of note seen. No further birding until Sunday 21st, when I managed to squeeze in a quick Wheldrake Ings visit before family duties called. A jogger managed to flush everything, which was pretty shocking as birds must be struggling due to all the ice covering the ings. I yelled at the guy but although I am sure he heard me, he didn't stop. This guy was breaking the byelaws of the National Nature Reserve and can be reported, so if anybody sees this guy please ask him for his name and address and report it to Natural England or Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to follow up.
A Peregrine put on a fantastic display, sparring with two Carrion Crows before making half-hearted attempts at Lapwings and Black-headed Gulls. And we won the cricket against Australia, so all in all, a good morning!
Other recent York Bird News includes a Bonxie allegedly flying down the River Ouse in York on Saturday (per two birders Mark Coates spoke to), a flock of c100 Redpolls including some Mealies at Allerthorpe Common (per Fiona Walton) and an unseasonal Kittiwake at North Duffield Carrs per Trevor Douglas, last Friday. There are still plenty of Hawfinches around, including at the Yorkshire Arboretum (which is closed, but birds visible around the car park area), around Ampleforth and two at Red House Reservoir which is notable. It's all happening. Oh, and the White-fronts showed up again at Bank Island!
Always a privilege to see Icelandic Whooper Swans in the Lower Derwent Valley. This adult was preening in the shallow floodwater near Aughton church. A beautiful, handsome bird.
A Peregrine put on a fantastic display, sparring with two Carrion Crows before making half-hearted attempts at Lapwings and Black-headed Gulls. And we won the cricket against Australia, so all in all, a good morning!
Other recent York Bird News includes a Bonxie allegedly flying down the River Ouse in York on Saturday (per two birders Mark Coates spoke to), a flock of c100 Redpolls including some Mealies at Allerthorpe Common (per Fiona Walton) and an unseasonal Kittiwake at North Duffield Carrs per Trevor Douglas, last Friday. There are still plenty of Hawfinches around, including at the Yorkshire Arboretum (which is closed, but birds visible around the car park area), around Ampleforth and two at Red House Reservoir which is notable. It's all happening. Oh, and the White-fronts showed up again at Bank Island!
Tuesday, 9 January 2018
Dawn 'til Dusk Part Two: Into the Valley
Welcome to the second installment of the Team Nevermind the Woodcocks Mike Clegg Memorial Bird Race adventure.
First stop, Adam Firth's house in Elvington where we had a tip off that he had Bramblings visiting the feeders in the field behind his house. And sure enough, within a short while, Rich picked up a bird in flight which fortunately landed atop a distant tree allowing us all to get on it. Even better, two birds dropped in much closer in a bush by the feeders, allowing us to gorge on tangerine orange and white and dark chocolate. This was a good species to see as I knew they were thin on the ground round York this winter. Thanks Adam!
Nevermind the Woodcocks at Melbourne, early afternoon.
Next, the valley proper, with our first stop Church Bridge, Melbourne. A stunning Red Kite was a great spot over the road as we approached the village - nice work Emanuela. Lesser Redpolls were in the Alders near the bridge, just as Craig Ralston had instructed - nice one Craig! But sadly, the ethereal Kingfisher failed to fly along the Canal as we stood atop the delightful humpback bridge. Nearby, our Jack Snipe site from last year also failed to produce anything more than one Common Snipe. Things were starting to go wrong! Down to Field Lane, and things picked up a little with a sizeable flock of Corn Buntings flying around over the kale field, and a good flock of Tree Sparrows jumping in and out of the adjacent hedge. We saw Tundra Bean Geese here last year along with some Pink-feet, but despite our wishing history to repeat itself, we couldn't turn any of the Greylags into anything better.
We had high hopes for East Cottingwith, where we would look over the southern edge of Wheldrake Ings. The water levels were really high but there was a large number of Wigeon and other wildfowl present, so we soon added Shelduck, Pintail and Shoveler. A flock of Ruff flew strongly past, accompanied by some comparatively tiny Dunlin. Rich and me grilled the Wigeon flock for our American friend, but sadly, he remained aloof, failing to give himself up. The light wasn't helping and time was pressing. A Peregrine or Marsh Harrier would help right now, but all was tranquil over the reserve.
Adam arrived and we left him to it. Ellerton was devoid of birds indicating either a sea-eagle (unlikely) or a dog walker (likely) had flushed everything. Only a small herd of Whooper Swans had the grace to offer themselves a place on our list, whereas the Ruddy Shelduck had seemingly departed with every other living thing. The Barn Owl had left plenty of signs of recent presence in the church porch, but the Sunday worshipers had long since flushed it from its roost.
Aughton is always worth a look, and Rich pulled a fine male Stonechat out of the bag as it fed from the tops of reedmace on the edge of the marsh. A good scan of the distant ducks revealed little, so we moved on quickly. North Duffield Carrs was our next target. Things were beginning to feel a bit out of reach now. We were unlikely to see Willow Tit now. Kingfisher seemed impossible. We had no more sites for Jack Snipe and not enough time to nip on to Skipwith for a crack at Green Woodpecker. My mind span. What to do! We still could see the remaining 'possible' waders such as Redshank, Curlew and Golden Plover at North Duffield and Barn Owl was a dead cert. We could score raptors here too. Should we take our feet off the gas and just enjoy the last hour of light at North Duffield, rather than continuing the chase? We would spend more time birding at least, rather than driving. But to do so, would be to concede and give up on the birds we could still see.
Let's get to the hide and think.
Shortly after arrival, a superb Marsh Harrier came in, a juvenile bird in immaculate plumage. It flew the full length of the ings, straight towards us, passing within 20 metres giving us all amazing views in the soft late afternoon sunshine.
This was a magical moment and reinvigorated us. We came to a decision simultaneously. We had to keep going. With Marsh Harrier, we were on about 88. With three owls up for grabs, a couple of waders and a gull or two coming into roost, we could just match last year's total. We could do this! We headed up through the valley to Thorganby. As if to prove a point, within moments of arriving at the platform, Rich picked up a Barn Owl quartering the ings, apparition-like in the failing light. Within a minute, I had jammed a roosting Little Owl in a Hawthorne near the farm, close to where I saw one a couple of weeks ago. Game on!
We checked out the ferryboat, but the water was too high and we couldn't see anything from there. We moved on quickly, time was critical now. Up the road to Bank Island, and up the steps on to the platform. It was all or nothing time.
The Bank Island tower.
Gulls were cruising over. We checked each one. Boy, we needed a white-winger right now. Suddenly, Rich announced Golden Plover, and we all got on a flock of these fast-flying waders, heading in a V over the ings. 91. Emanuela and me then heard a Curlew call from the direction of Wheldrake, but alas, Rich and Paul missed it, so we couldn't count it. Damn!
Peregrine! We all looked up to see an adult Peregrine leisurely flying straight over us, catching the last rays of the sun. No wonder the incoming flocks of Black-headed Gulls were coming in low and fast - they looked palpably nervous. They clearly didn't want to be dinner. 92.
Still no white-winger. The light was failing. A strange trilling call was heard. What was that? Snow Bunting I offered. Surely not! It wasn't right to be honest. But what was it. Tired minds, it had been a long day. It called again, seemingly from the same place. I had to check this out. I legged it down the steps and through the field. There in a ditch was a Little Grebe. I had not heard this call before. We'd all learned something today!
It was getting too dark now to do the gulls. Stoical smiles and tired eyes replaced enthusiasm. But then we remembered that we could still get Woodcock if we could only get through the flood on to the bailey bridge at Wheldrake Ings. And Tawny Owl should be easy. So we could get to 94 at least....
Down the lane we went. Duncan, Adam and me had waded through the flood the other day in wellies, with about 1 centimetre to spare. The water was much higher today, surely? Rich wasn't put off and waded confidently/recklessly out into the water. As he did so, he flushed a Woodcock from the edge of the road. Damn it! nobody saw it properly except for Rich, although I did hear the noise of it breaking cover. As luck would have it, as we waited for Rich to sink into the flood, or make it, another Woodcock came over, this time silhouetted beautifully against the inky blue sky, allowing us all to get a view. 93. Out of the darkness, Rich shouted 'Curlew! There's a Curlew calling!' We couldn't hear this one, but adding to our 2/3 earlier, we could now count it - 94! Rocking. Two minutes later, the three of us had started to tentatively wade across. Rich shouted again 'Tawny Owl hooting', but we couldn't hear it. Pressure! We made it across the flood in virtual darkness. Straining our ears one last time, I have never been so pleased to hear the eerie, wavering hoot of a Tawny Owl. 95! We felt elated after the lows of earlier. We had matched last year's efforts. Great stuff.
Woodcocks wading
We headed to The Wenlock Arms in Wheldrake village where we met up with the York Upstarts (Chris Gomersall, Ollie Metcalfe, Georgia Locock and Paz Fletcher) who had scored a handsome 94, and the Chairman's Pick (Peter Watson, Rob Chapman, Duncan Bye, Masha Sitnikova) who had achieved a commendable 89. Incredibly, we had won! But only just. Wow! We never once thought we would beat the Upstarts. This was amazing!
A big well done to all the teams that raced this year, to the organisers, and to all the sponsors. Money is going to build a Sand Martin bank at Kilnsea Wetlands. Great stuff.
And lastly, a big thanks to Emanuela, Rich and Paul for sharing the highs and lows, the thrills and spills of this bird race. Bird racing is not for everybody, but is a real test of stamina, courage and persistence, as much as it is a test of birding skill.
Species, site of first record (Castle Howard - CH, Heslington East - HE, North Duffield Carrs - NDC, Yorkshire Arboretum - YA, Wheldrake Ings- WI)
First stop, Adam Firth's house in Elvington where we had a tip off that he had Bramblings visiting the feeders in the field behind his house. And sure enough, within a short while, Rich picked up a bird in flight which fortunately landed atop a distant tree allowing us all to get on it. Even better, two birds dropped in much closer in a bush by the feeders, allowing us to gorge on tangerine orange and white and dark chocolate. This was a good species to see as I knew they were thin on the ground round York this winter. Thanks Adam!
Next, the valley proper, with our first stop Church Bridge, Melbourne. A stunning Red Kite was a great spot over the road as we approached the village - nice work Emanuela. Lesser Redpolls were in the Alders near the bridge, just as Craig Ralston had instructed - nice one Craig! But sadly, the ethereal Kingfisher failed to fly along the Canal as we stood atop the delightful humpback bridge. Nearby, our Jack Snipe site from last year also failed to produce anything more than one Common Snipe. Things were starting to go wrong! Down to Field Lane, and things picked up a little with a sizeable flock of Corn Buntings flying around over the kale field, and a good flock of Tree Sparrows jumping in and out of the adjacent hedge. We saw Tundra Bean Geese here last year along with some Pink-feet, but despite our wishing history to repeat itself, we couldn't turn any of the Greylags into anything better.
We had high hopes for East Cottingwith, where we would look over the southern edge of Wheldrake Ings. The water levels were really high but there was a large number of Wigeon and other wildfowl present, so we soon added Shelduck, Pintail and Shoveler. A flock of Ruff flew strongly past, accompanied by some comparatively tiny Dunlin. Rich and me grilled the Wigeon flock for our American friend, but sadly, he remained aloof, failing to give himself up. The light wasn't helping and time was pressing. A Peregrine or Marsh Harrier would help right now, but all was tranquil over the reserve.
Adam arrived and we left him to it. Ellerton was devoid of birds indicating either a sea-eagle (unlikely) or a dog walker (likely) had flushed everything. Only a small herd of Whooper Swans had the grace to offer themselves a place on our list, whereas the Ruddy Shelduck had seemingly departed with every other living thing. The Barn Owl had left plenty of signs of recent presence in the church porch, but the Sunday worshipers had long since flushed it from its roost.
Aughton is always worth a look, and Rich pulled a fine male Stonechat out of the bag as it fed from the tops of reedmace on the edge of the marsh. A good scan of the distant ducks revealed little, so we moved on quickly. North Duffield Carrs was our next target. Things were beginning to feel a bit out of reach now. We were unlikely to see Willow Tit now. Kingfisher seemed impossible. We had no more sites for Jack Snipe and not enough time to nip on to Skipwith for a crack at Green Woodpecker. My mind span. What to do! We still could see the remaining 'possible' waders such as Redshank, Curlew and Golden Plover at North Duffield and Barn Owl was a dead cert. We could score raptors here too. Should we take our feet off the gas and just enjoy the last hour of light at North Duffield, rather than continuing the chase? We would spend more time birding at least, rather than driving. But to do so, would be to concede and give up on the birds we could still see.
Let's get to the hide and think.
Shortly after arrival, a superb Marsh Harrier came in, a juvenile bird in immaculate plumage. It flew the full length of the ings, straight towards us, passing within 20 metres giving us all amazing views in the soft late afternoon sunshine.
This was a magical moment and reinvigorated us. We came to a decision simultaneously. We had to keep going. With Marsh Harrier, we were on about 88. With three owls up for grabs, a couple of waders and a gull or two coming into roost, we could just match last year's total. We could do this! We headed up through the valley to Thorganby. As if to prove a point, within moments of arriving at the platform, Rich picked up a Barn Owl quartering the ings, apparition-like in the failing light. Within a minute, I had jammed a roosting Little Owl in a Hawthorne near the farm, close to where I saw one a couple of weeks ago. Game on!
We checked out the ferryboat, but the water was too high and we couldn't see anything from there. We moved on quickly, time was critical now. Up the road to Bank Island, and up the steps on to the platform. It was all or nothing time.
Gulls were cruising over. We checked each one. Boy, we needed a white-winger right now. Suddenly, Rich announced Golden Plover, and we all got on a flock of these fast-flying waders, heading in a V over the ings. 91. Emanuela and me then heard a Curlew call from the direction of Wheldrake, but alas, Rich and Paul missed it, so we couldn't count it. Damn!
Peregrine! We all looked up to see an adult Peregrine leisurely flying straight over us, catching the last rays of the sun. No wonder the incoming flocks of Black-headed Gulls were coming in low and fast - they looked palpably nervous. They clearly didn't want to be dinner. 92.
Still no white-winger. The light was failing. A strange trilling call was heard. What was that? Snow Bunting I offered. Surely not! It wasn't right to be honest. But what was it. Tired minds, it had been a long day. It called again, seemingly from the same place. I had to check this out. I legged it down the steps and through the field. There in a ditch was a Little Grebe. I had not heard this call before. We'd all learned something today!
It was getting too dark now to do the gulls. Stoical smiles and tired eyes replaced enthusiasm. But then we remembered that we could still get Woodcock if we could only get through the flood on to the bailey bridge at Wheldrake Ings. And Tawny Owl should be easy. So we could get to 94 at least....
Down the lane we went. Duncan, Adam and me had waded through the flood the other day in wellies, with about 1 centimetre to spare. The water was much higher today, surely? Rich wasn't put off and waded confidently/recklessly out into the water. As he did so, he flushed a Woodcock from the edge of the road. Damn it! nobody saw it properly except for Rich, although I did hear the noise of it breaking cover. As luck would have it, as we waited for Rich to sink into the flood, or make it, another Woodcock came over, this time silhouetted beautifully against the inky blue sky, allowing us all to get a view. 93. Out of the darkness, Rich shouted 'Curlew! There's a Curlew calling!' We couldn't hear this one, but adding to our 2/3 earlier, we could now count it - 94! Rocking. Two minutes later, the three of us had started to tentatively wade across. Rich shouted again 'Tawny Owl hooting', but we couldn't hear it. Pressure! We made it across the flood in virtual darkness. Straining our ears one last time, I have never been so pleased to hear the eerie, wavering hoot of a Tawny Owl. 95! We felt elated after the lows of earlier. We had matched last year's efforts. Great stuff.
We headed to The Wenlock Arms in Wheldrake village where we met up with the York Upstarts (Chris Gomersall, Ollie Metcalfe, Georgia Locock and Paz Fletcher) who had scored a handsome 94, and the Chairman's Pick (Peter Watson, Rob Chapman, Duncan Bye, Masha Sitnikova) who had achieved a commendable 89. Incredibly, we had won! But only just. Wow! We never once thought we would beat the Upstarts. This was amazing!
A big well done to all the teams that raced this year, to the organisers, and to all the sponsors. Money is going to build a Sand Martin bank at Kilnsea Wetlands. Great stuff.
And lastly, a big thanks to Emanuela, Rich and Paul for sharing the highs and lows, the thrills and spills of this bird race. Bird racing is not for everybody, but is a real test of stamina, courage and persistence, as much as it is a test of birding skill.
Post script.
So it turned out we scored 96. Firstly, we felt gutted when Emanuela realised she had counted Hawfinch twice, so our score slipped to 94. Then, she noticed that she had not included Little Egret or Mandarin, so we went back up, but this time to 96! So we had beaten our last year's total, and also recorded the highest number of species of any Yorkshire team. Result!Our Final List:
Species, site of first record (Castle Howard - CH, Heslington East - HE, North Duffield Carrs - NDC, Yorkshire Arboretum - YA, Wheldrake Ings- WI)
- Mute Swan, CH
- Whooper Swan, Ellerton
- Greylag Goose, CH
- Canada Goose, CH
- Egyptian Goose, East Cottingwith Farm Pond
- Shelduck, WI
- Mandarin, CH
- Gadwall, CH
- Wigeon, CH
- Mallard, Bishopthorpe
- Shoveler, WI
- Pintail, WI
- Teal, Bishopthorpe
- Pochard, HE
- Tufted Duck, CH
- Goldeneye, CH
- Goosander, CH
- Red-legged Partridge, Rufforth
- Grey Partridge, Bishopthorpe
- Pheasant, CH
- Little Grebe, HE
- Great Crested Grebe, HE
- Cormorant, CH
- Grey Heron, CH
- Little Egret, HE
- Marsh Harrier, NDC
- Sparrowhawk, Askham Bog
- Red Kite, Melbourne
- Common Buzzard, CH
- Water Rail, HE
- Moorhen, Bishopthorpe
- Coot, CH
- Golden Plover, Bank Island
- Lapwing, Thornton
- Green Sandpiper, Rufforth
- Curlew, WI
- Ruff, WI
- Dunlin, WI
- Snipe, Elvington
- Woodcock, WI
- Black-headed Gull, CH
- Common Gull, CH
- Herring Gull, Rufforth
- Great Black-backed Gull, Rufforth
- Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, York ring road
- Stock Dove, CH
- Woodpigeon, CH
- Collared Dove, CH
- Barn Owl, Thorganby
- Little Owl, Thorganby
- Tawny Owl, WI
- Great Spotted Woodpecker, CH
- Kestrel, Claxton
- Peregrine, Bank Island
- Jay, YA
- Magpie, CH
- Jackdaw, CH
- Rook, CH
- Carrion Crow, Claxton
- Skylark, Rufforth
- Marsh Tit, Askham Bog
- Coal Tit, CH
- Blue Tit, CH
- Great Tit, CH
- Long-tailed Tit, YA
- Nuthatch, CH
- Treecreeper, CH
- Wren, CH
- Goldcrest, YA
- Cetti's Warbler, CH
- Robin, Bishopthorpe
- Stonechat, Aughton
- Blackbird, CH
- Fieldfare, YA
- Redwing, YA
- Song Thrush, Melbourne
- Mistle Thrush, YA
- Starling, CH
- Dunnock, CH
- Grey Wagtail, WI
- Pied Wagtail, Rufforth
- Meadow Pipit, HE
- Yellowhammer, CH
- Reed Bunting, CH
- Corn Bunting, Thornton
- Chaffinch, CH
- Brambling, Elvington
- Bullfinch, Askham Bog
- Greenfinch, CH
- Lesser Redpoll, Melbourne
- Siskin, CH
- Goldfinch, CH
- Linnet, WI
- Hawfinch, YA
- House Sparrow, Elvington
- Tree Sparrow, CH
Monday, 8 January 2018
Dawn 'til Dusk - The York Bird Race 2018 (Part One)
For the last two years, Team Nevermind the Woodcocks, consisting of Emanuela Buizza, Paul Brook, Rich Baines and myself have raced round York competing in the Mike Clegg Memorial Bird Race, trying to see or hear as many species as possible within the York Recording Area. Last year, we scored a healthy 95, landing us second to the epic efforts of the York Upstarts who smashed the York record with a colossal 105! So, to this year....
My day started with a mild hangover and heavy cold, suppressed by a heavy dose of excitement for the day ahead. The team assembled in the cold, dark dawn, silent and focused, ready for the off.
Our first sighting was, unexpectedly, of a probable burglar lurking on the corner of the street, but he could have been a worker on the early shift, waiting for his lift. We decided to move on. Nearby, my faithful Grey Partridges called right on cue, as the tentative light of dawn silhouetted the line of oaks to our east, along the Acaster road.
On through the gathering dawn to Castle Howard. It seemed like only hours since I was last here, probably because that's all it was. A conveyor of Common and Black-headed Gulls snaked out of the mirror-like lake in a sinuous belt heading off into the lightening sky. Among them, my lovely Med Gull slipped away unseen. The air was alive with duck and geese calls; we strained half-awake ears for the unusual. A Yellowhammer called, and it gained its place on our growing list.
3/4 of Nevermind the Woodcocks (Emanuela, Rich, Paul) ready for grilling Castle Howard in the half-light
On round the lake we soon found two of our targets for this site, Goosander and Mandarin. Small birds were beginning to stir, mostly unseen in the scrub along the lake edge, but letting us know they were awake, with a repertoire of calls. Rich and me called out the species in succession and did our best to get Paul and Emanuela on to things, which given the cacophony, was not easy. A Meadow Pipit went over calling thrice, sadly, it got away before I could announce it to the team. A Marsh Tit called - great -one of our targets, but no, it was a Great Tit, mimicking the characteristic, explosive 'pitchew'! of a Marsh. No! This wasn't fair! I had seen two Marsh Tits in this very stretch of hedge yesterday. We had to move on, so lacking in Marsh Tit, we started to walk back, adding further birds to our list, including useful ticks such as Treecreeper.
As we rounded the corner of the lake, I was half-distracted by a Great Spotted Woodpecker that I thought I'd heard, so only partly processed the liquid 'chet-chet-chet' coming from the lake-edge. As we got nearer it called again and then it suddenly clicked what we were hearing: a Cetti's Warbler! Boom! This was very unexpected and a great bonus bird. It is the only about the 12th record for York and the first one away from the LDV! I felt we would have no chance of seeing this vocal but skulking little guy, but as Paul had not seen one, we thought we'd have quick look. And luck was on our side, as the bird flew past us landing in full view on a twig. It then carried on flying into the reed swamp and disappeared, although we could still hear it calling. This more than made up for the lack of a Marsh Tit!
Next stop was the Yorkshire Arboretum, to which Rich had managed to obtain access. Soon, we were watching stunningly beautiful Hawfinches - at least 72! - grubbing about under a copse among comparatively drab Greenfinches and Chaffinches.
A shaky, early morning shot of a Hawfinch.
We added a few other good birds, such as Jay, Redwing and Goldcrest.
Still hoping for a Marsh Tit, we walked out of the Arboretum....
It was time to head back to York. As we drove, a heated debate grew hotter as we proposed a change to the plan. As we were ahead of schedule, we felt we could add in Rufforth for the chance of some scarce gulls; Iceland and Glaucous were here yesterday, followed by Askham Bog for another chance of a Marsh Tit. But as Emanuela pointed out, the pesky Rufforth gulls had wasted a large amount of time last year, adding nothing to our tally. The chance of Marsh Tit swung it as we were unlikely to see one of these once we got into the Valley (the Lower Derwent Valley to be precise). So, Rich leaned the truck into the York ring road, and we headed round anti-clockwise. I could feel the tension coming from the back seat! This could be a big mistake. And to my dismay, shortly I realised the gulls were not going to be easy. Fortunately, unexpected birds saved things, with both Skylark and Red-legged Partridge adding themselves in to much needed blank spaces on the list and then, as we clambered back into the truck, Rich yelled 'Green Sands!' and we all literally fell back out to see these black and white yodelling waders heading over the road towards the tip. Epic! What a moment. We went from feeling pretty down, to super high, in the space of a moment.
Listening for the Pitchew!
We got to Askham Bog, which looked gorgeous, drenched in crystal clear January sunshine. Plenty of birds about, but no Marsh Tit. Even my magic swamp failed to provide my regular Woodcock. Things were teetering on the down again, when suddenly a female Sparrowhawk appeared overhead, moments after a Buzzard. This was a good bird. Common, but sometimes very difficult to track down on a bird race. And as we watched, a Marsh Tit called behind us! Awesome! Time to go.
Heslington East (university campus) was our next stop, where Emanuela had done a reccy yesterday and had pinned down some potentially tricky birds. Our luck held, and our bogey bird from last year, Great Crested Grebe fell, thanks to Paul's sharp eyes, preceded by Pochard and Little Grebe, and a surprise fly-by ghostly Little Egret. A Water Rail fed out on the grass, Moorhen-like, though Paul and me missed it, having to console ourselves with a second bird, calling nearby. We hightailed it back to the car, ignoring the strange looks from bewildered students.
Glorious scenes at Hes East
No Linnet or Kingfisher at Hes East. These two birds were top of the list of species I was beginning to fear we might miss. Every year there are a couple of 'easy' species, species you would feel are 'bankers' which decide to play hard to get. In previous years, these pesky nemesis birds have been Grey Wagtail and Great Crested Grebe. Others have struggled with Long-tailed Tits and Mistle Thrushes. There are always a couple to increase the stress levels. I already knew we wouldn't be adding Green Woodpecker as we didn't have time to fit in one of the York heaths....things were getting tense. Time for a Cherry Bakewell.
It was midday and we were on 73. Time to head into the Valley....
Our first sighting was, unexpectedly, of a probable burglar lurking on the corner of the street, but he could have been a worker on the early shift, waiting for his lift. We decided to move on. Nearby, my faithful Grey Partridges called right on cue, as the tentative light of dawn silhouetted the line of oaks to our east, along the Acaster road.
On through the gathering dawn to Castle Howard. It seemed like only hours since I was last here, probably because that's all it was. A conveyor of Common and Black-headed Gulls snaked out of the mirror-like lake in a sinuous belt heading off into the lightening sky. Among them, my lovely Med Gull slipped away unseen. The air was alive with duck and geese calls; we strained half-awake ears for the unusual. A Yellowhammer called, and it gained its place on our growing list.
On round the lake we soon found two of our targets for this site, Goosander and Mandarin. Small birds were beginning to stir, mostly unseen in the scrub along the lake edge, but letting us know they were awake, with a repertoire of calls. Rich and me called out the species in succession and did our best to get Paul and Emanuela on to things, which given the cacophony, was not easy. A Meadow Pipit went over calling thrice, sadly, it got away before I could announce it to the team. A Marsh Tit called - great -one of our targets, but no, it was a Great Tit, mimicking the characteristic, explosive 'pitchew'! of a Marsh. No! This wasn't fair! I had seen two Marsh Tits in this very stretch of hedge yesterday. We had to move on, so lacking in Marsh Tit, we started to walk back, adding further birds to our list, including useful ticks such as Treecreeper.
As we rounded the corner of the lake, I was half-distracted by a Great Spotted Woodpecker that I thought I'd heard, so only partly processed the liquid 'chet-chet-chet' coming from the lake-edge. As we got nearer it called again and then it suddenly clicked what we were hearing: a Cetti's Warbler! Boom! This was very unexpected and a great bonus bird. It is the only about the 12th record for York and the first one away from the LDV! I felt we would have no chance of seeing this vocal but skulking little guy, but as Paul had not seen one, we thought we'd have quick look. And luck was on our side, as the bird flew past us landing in full view on a twig. It then carried on flying into the reed swamp and disappeared, although we could still hear it calling. This more than made up for the lack of a Marsh Tit!
Next stop was the Yorkshire Arboretum, to which Rich had managed to obtain access. Soon, we were watching stunningly beautiful Hawfinches - at least 72! - grubbing about under a copse among comparatively drab Greenfinches and Chaffinches.
We added a few other good birds, such as Jay, Redwing and Goldcrest.
It was time to head back to York. As we drove, a heated debate grew hotter as we proposed a change to the plan. As we were ahead of schedule, we felt we could add in Rufforth for the chance of some scarce gulls; Iceland and Glaucous were here yesterday, followed by Askham Bog for another chance of a Marsh Tit. But as Emanuela pointed out, the pesky Rufforth gulls had wasted a large amount of time last year, adding nothing to our tally. The chance of Marsh Tit swung it as we were unlikely to see one of these once we got into the Valley (the Lower Derwent Valley to be precise). So, Rich leaned the truck into the York ring road, and we headed round anti-clockwise. I could feel the tension coming from the back seat! This could be a big mistake. And to my dismay, shortly I realised the gulls were not going to be easy. Fortunately, unexpected birds saved things, with both Skylark and Red-legged Partridge adding themselves in to much needed blank spaces on the list and then, as we clambered back into the truck, Rich yelled 'Green Sands!' and we all literally fell back out to see these black and white yodelling waders heading over the road towards the tip. Epic! What a moment. We went from feeling pretty down, to super high, in the space of a moment.
We got to Askham Bog, which looked gorgeous, drenched in crystal clear January sunshine. Plenty of birds about, but no Marsh Tit. Even my magic swamp failed to provide my regular Woodcock. Things were teetering on the down again, when suddenly a female Sparrowhawk appeared overhead, moments after a Buzzard. This was a good bird. Common, but sometimes very difficult to track down on a bird race. And as we watched, a Marsh Tit called behind us! Awesome! Time to go.
Heslington East (university campus) was our next stop, where Emanuela had done a reccy yesterday and had pinned down some potentially tricky birds. Our luck held, and our bogey bird from last year, Great Crested Grebe fell, thanks to Paul's sharp eyes, preceded by Pochard and Little Grebe, and a surprise fly-by ghostly Little Egret. A Water Rail fed out on the grass, Moorhen-like, though Paul and me missed it, having to console ourselves with a second bird, calling nearby. We hightailed it back to the car, ignoring the strange looks from bewildered students.
No Linnet or Kingfisher at Hes East. These two birds were top of the list of species I was beginning to fear we might miss. Every year there are a couple of 'easy' species, species you would feel are 'bankers' which decide to play hard to get. In previous years, these pesky nemesis birds have been Grey Wagtail and Great Crested Grebe. Others have struggled with Long-tailed Tits and Mistle Thrushes. There are always a couple to increase the stress levels. I already knew we wouldn't be adding Green Woodpecker as we didn't have time to fit in one of the York heaths....things were getting tense. Time for a Cherry Bakewell.
It was midday and we were on 73. Time to head into the Valley....
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