Herons: 3 for the price of 1

Wowser! What a corker of a weekend to open 2010 with. A personal first for the area in the form of a BITTERN, a second of LITTLE EGRET, plus a Great Crested Grebe, Merlin, Peregrine, Water Rail, 6 Woodcock, Redshank, 2 Green Sandpiper, 3 day-flying Barn Owl, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, a small flock of Siskin, and 3 Brambling.

It was a cold weekend with light north-west breeze and mostly bright sunshine. A half inch of snow on Friday night was a surprise and one which dominated the following days.

Saturday 30th January

Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes in the morning. 10 Mute Swan included the family of seven that bred last summer. Wildfowl and waders were otherwise mostly absent; 12 Mallard, 3 Little Grebe, 1 Coot, 4 Snipe and a Woodcock. Around the fields were 3 Grey Partridge, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Stock Dove, and a day flying Barn Owl. Song birds on the whole have cleared out (or died?) from the area but a few pockets of birds have stayed on; 46 Skylark, 1 Meadow Pipit, 83 Fieldfare, 1 Song Thrush, 3 Redwing, 3 Tree Sparrow, c20 Chaffinch, 42 Linnet, 3 Bullfinch, 11 Yellowhammer and 2 Reed Bunting. Best of the bunch were the 3 Brambling in the Chaffinch flock - a difficult year tick in the area - and a Merlin hunting near Cattleholmes was probably the same one seen in the same place in December. 5 Roe Deer were near Cattleholmes.

In the afternoon a walk around Green Lane, Barf Hill and Great Kelk proved fairly useful. Between Green Lane and Barf Hill were 26 Teal, 8 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, Kingfisher, 9 Yellowhammer, 4 Grey Partridge, a Buzzard (over Barf Hill), 3 Woodcock, a Redshank, 800 Woodpigeon and a Great Spotted Woodpecker (also Barf Hill). 6 Roe Deer and 9 Hare were around Gransmoor Lane. A remarkable flock of around 2000 Woodpigeon were up in the air distantly over the stud farm woods south of Burton Agnes.

Since there was a little daylight left we walked to Great Kelk to have a bit of a poke around the back of the village; 11 Red-legged Partridge, 5 Grey Partridge, Kestrel, Snipe, Barn Owl, Pied Wagtail, c50 Blackbirds in village gardens, 3 Fieldfare, 19 Redwing, 1 Tree Sparrow, and 5 Greenfinch. Not a bad haul!

Undoubtedly the surprise of the weekend, the year, and decade was a sighting of a BITTERN in a tiny patch of reeds by a small patch of water at a private site near Kelk away from public view. I thought I spotted something in the reeds from about 60-70m away but couldn't be sure. After a few minutes a Pheasant moved close by and as if by magic the reeds shuffled and for a couple of brief seconds the shape and colours of a Bittern were evident. And then it vanished behind some other vegetation and didn't come out the other side. We waited a few minutes but nothing, and there was no way I was going to get closer and risk disturbing it just for a better look. Like with the Osprey last year, the views weren't great, but - wow - what a massive buzz.

Given the cold weather this bird is likely to have arrived during January and is likely to have fled frozen habitat in northern Europe (Germany, Poland, Denmark etc). More than usual have been reported across Britain and it is not entirely unexpected for them to turn up in apparently unsuitable locations at such times. Even so. And once again - wow!

There is one 'possible' record from the early 1990s - a dog walker gave me a fairly convincing description of one flushed by their dog from the side of the beck at Harpham, also during January. But here it is, definitely on the local avifauna. No doubt it'll be another 20 years wait for another!

Sunday 31st January

Still very cold but sunny again though and extra spring in the step from yesterday's events. Around Harpham in the morning produced several Teal, 2 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Buzzard in the air together, 2 Kestrel, a Peregrine heading east toward Burton Agnes, a Water Rail on Lingholmes Beck, 2 Green Sandpiper also on Lingholmes Beck, 9 Black-headed Gull (often scarce in January), a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush, 10 Long-tailed Tit in three small flocks - their numbers have evidently taken a hit in the cold snap, a Jay was heard in Lingholmes Plantation, 4 Tree Sparrow, 16 Goldfinch, a party of Siskin heard calling in Lingholmes. Six Hares and 3 Roe Deer were seen from Station Road.

The surprise of the day, and under normal circumstances would have been the surprise of the year, came when watching the deer cross the fields. A large white bird caught my eye in the distance toward Harpham. It was obviously not a small or large gull, the flight was all wrong. As it flew across it became apparent it was a LITTLE EGRET - only my second record for the area, the previous being in July 2007 at Kelk Lake. Eventually the bird came down on the bank of a field drain. Incredible.

Although this species is nationally increasing, becoming more regular in Yorkshire (the first breeding was lat year), they are still fairly unusual in the local region. Perhaps this one had moved away from it's usual winter area due to the weather, but it's possible it has been in the area all winter - they can be shockingly elusive for a large bright white bird.

Gembling and Brigham Quarry were the targets for the afternoon. Quiet in comparison to the rest of the weekend: 3 Grey Partridge, a Grey Heron, 70 Common Gull, 10 Fieldfare, 4 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, and a flock of Tree Sparrow heard in gardens.

A diversion on the way back to take in Barf Hill, Gransmoor, and Kelk Lake produced 2 Mute Swans, a Barn Owl and 3 Long-tailed tit at Barf Hill. A flock of 165 Greylag and 16 Canada Geese were heading over Gembling.

At Kelk Lake; 7 Tufted, a Great-crested Grebe, a Kestrel, 21 Coot, 2 Woodcock, 50 Feral Pigeon, 5 Fieldfare and 4 Long-tailed Tit. 19 Hare were in fields on Harpham Moor.

Yearlist: 71 - a mighty start.