Come in number nine

My September visit took place last weekend. I took a flyer from work on Friday afternoon and managed to get out in the field for a couple of hours. The weekend was generally quiet with nice warm weather but at least that made it good for walking about in.

That said I added two species to the year list; a Northern Wheatear in Little Kelk on Friday and a Jay at Lowthorpe on Sunday. Other goodies were a skein of 26 Pink-footed Geese heading south, a Marsh Harrier, a Peregrine, six Common Buzzards, 260 Golden Plover and a few late migrants in the shape of single Sand Martin, Yellow Wagtail, Blackcap and Willow Warbler.

Friday 25th September

I decided to try to count the gull roost movement, having not had chance in good conditions for a couple of years (good light & light breeze in early autumn). On the way the grass fields in Little Kelk held a single Northern Wheatear with a massive count of 64 Pied Wagtail. This is by some distance the largest count made in the area and from what I could make out of the nearer ones they were all British 'yarrellii' wagtails, as opposed to continental 'alba' subspecies.

Also seen were a few Swallows, 2 House Martin, 4 Mistle Thrush and a pre-roost gathering of several hundred Corvids. 40 Greylags flew over toward Kelk Lake with a single Canada Goose tagging along. 21 Long-tailed Tits were in the hedge near Little Kelk Farm, a reasonable autumn count. 3 Tufted Duck and 1 Little Grebe was all that could be seen on the lake, now that a large fence has been constructed to block off the main viewpoints!!

After passing Kelk Lake I started watching for gulls but it seemed that relatively few were moving through and I got a bit bored after 30 minutes so decided to call it a day. A few hundred gulls had passed over but no big groups - a sure sign that either it wasn't going to be one of those days or they had already mostly passed through.

Around 2,000 Corvids went to roost as I was heading home - noisy buggers.

Saturday 26th September

Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes in the morning; the Mute Swan family still number 10 birds, a magnificent achievement for the parents especialy so given the previous lack of success. Along or around the beck were 4 Little Grebe (together), 3 Cormorant (1 on the beck, 2 flying north), 2 Common Buzzards over Lingholmes, 1 Kestrel, 180 Lapwing, 1 Kingfisher, 8 Skylark around Lynesykes, 3 Meadow Pipits, 110 Linnet, and a Reed Bunting. At Cattleholmes not a lot going on but 1 Gadwall, 38 Teal, 12 Mallard, a Marsh Harrier, a Grey Heron and 2 Coot were noted.

A skein of 26 Pink-footed Geese flew south at 10.30am. These birds probably set off from Scotland the previous evening and will have been in Iceland or the Arctic a week or two ago. Migration in action - always magnificent to witness.

Gembling and Foston in the afternoon; 95 Lapwing, 1 Green Sandpiper, 31 Tree Sparrow and 35 Linnet were around Gembling. It is noticeable that the previous weeks have been unusually dry, there was practically no water in the flood areas.

At Brigham Quarry were 7 Red-legged Partridges, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 juv Herring Gull over. The Buzzard came in low and didn't see me at first. It perched on the ground only 30 feet away and I managed to get a single shot off the camera before it flew. Possibly the best view I've had of one in the area, and coincidentally the first Buzzard at this site - they really are getting everywhere these days!

A single Grey Wagtail was at Foston Mill. On the way home a flock of 260 Golden Plover had gathered on a field in Little Kelk, a very good count for the area.

Determined to count some gulls (stop laughing!) I made my way around to Harpham Moor again, and this time it was much better - about 9,000 passed through in about an hour. The light was not great with an orange/pink haze and I found it difficult to guage the ratio of Common to Black-headed Gulls but it's typically between 20-40% Black-headed. Also seen were a Kestrel (looked like a young bird), 9 Collared Dove, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Sand Martin with 60+ Swallow at Little Kelk. The most remarkable sight was a Peregrine silhouette which zipped through heading south bang on sunset - it continued over Harpham Moor, Kelk Lake and into the distance. The fifth for me this year, considering how rare they used to be where do these recent ones come from?

Two Tawny Owls were heard on the way back from the pub!

Sunday 27th September

Harpham and Lowthorpe in the morning; 13 Skylark, 1 Blackcap, 1 very late Willow Warbler and 1 Coal Tit around Lingholmes. At New Road 11 Teal, 28 Mallard, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 1 Grey Wagtail and 2 Chiffchaff (song heard briefly at one point). At Lowthorpe were 3 Goldcrest and a year tick in the form of a Jay - something of a surprise!

Green Lane and Barf Hill in the afternoon; 7 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Grey Partridge, 3 Cormorant over, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Common Buzzard (5 over Kelk Lake, 1 over Lingholmes), 2 Kestrel, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 8 Herring Gull flying South-west, 1 Great Black-backed Gull in a field toward Gransmoor/Lisset. The best bird was a late Yellow Wagtail near Barf Hill (a new late record, I think). Finally a family of Long-tailed Tits were near Centre Farm - this species seemed rather elusive all weekend, though maybe I wasn't paying attention.

And that was that, until October.

Oh hang on, what about non-birds?

Butterflies: noticeably few with most being either 'whites' (I think mostly Large White?) or Small Tortoiseshell - low double figures of each. The only other species were 5 Painted Lady, 2 Speckled Wood (Harpham), plus 4 Comma & 12 Red Admiral (all in the same hedgerow in Little Kelk).

Dragonflies: only one noted, a Migrant Hawker near the bridge at Foston Beck.

Mammals: 4 Grey Squirrels - 1 collecting conkers at Foston, 2 collecting pine cones in Lingholmes and 1 along Station Road, Harpham. My Dad saw 5 Roe Deer near Kelk Beck on Monday morning. The true star of the weekend was the astonishing sighting of a Badger crossing a stubble field on Sunday afternoon. We watched it for about 10 minutes as it snuffled along no more than 100 yards in front of us. No other words for it, just, Wow!

Birding year-list is now 108 species (+2 seen by others).