Swallow not Summer

Better late than never. A quick round up of my March visit, 27th-30th. Saturday and Sunday were mostly sunny but very breezy while Monday and Tuesday were mostly wet. The highlights were an OSPREY heading north, 2 Woodcock, three Green Sandpiper, a new record count of 480 Golden Plover, the first Sand Martins and a lone Swallow, the first I've seen locally in March.

Saturday 27th March

Around Harpham were 12 Mallard, 14 Greylags, 3 Grey Heron, 2 Little grebe, 6 Moorhen, 2 Woodcock, a Green Sandpiper, 6 Stock Dove, 200+ Woodpigeon, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Sand Martin flying purposefully north, 3 Meadow Pipit, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 4 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Coal Tit, 40 Linnet, 1 Bullfinch.

One of the stranger bird sightings was a female Tufted Duck on the pond in Lowthorpe Church Wood - a new one for me!

The breeze and sunshine brought the raptors out in the late morning - once again there were at least 8 Common Buzzards, plus 4 Sparrowhawks and 4 Kestrel. Two of these buzzards circled up high to join a passing OSPREY, my second record after the first last April. What a piece of luck, I wouldn't have caught it had it not been for the buzzards.

In the late afternoon a trip around Green Lane and Barf Hill was rather productive; 12 Greylags, 2 Canada Goose, 3 Gadwall, 8 Mallard, 4 Red-legged and 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Common Buzzard over Gembling, 2 Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Barn Owl, 2 Mistle Thrush.

Surprise of the afternoon was a large flock of 480 Golden Plover on one of the fields by Green Lane. I say surprise but in fact Spring is the best time to see flocks of goldies in the area as it is unusual for birds to overwinter and they are regular but unpredictable on autumn passage. What was surprising was the number - treble figures is notable and the previous highest was around 350. The flock were still there on Tuesday though I was too distant to count them.

Sunday 28th March

Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes; 5 Mute Swan, 1 Canada Goose, 1 Gadwall, 9 Teal, 10 Mallard, 6 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Coot, 5 Meadow Pipit, and a Reed Bunting.

A detour on the way back around Great Kelk and Green Lane landed 2 Teal on a field flood patch, 2 Oystercatcher off Green Lane, 2 Mistle Thrush, 20 Tree Sparrow in the village plus 7 in Little Kelk, 2 Bullfinch and 2 Yellowhammer.

After lunch a bike ride around Gembling and Foston was unexceptional but still, at Gembling were 1 male Wigeon, 4 Gadwall, 2 Grey Partridge, 4 Moorhen, 6 Coot, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Green Sandpiper, 35 Starling. At Brigham Quarry 14 Gadwall, 12 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 10 Coot and 2 Bullfinches nearby at Foston bridge.

There was still time for a sneaky peek at Kelk Lake where there was a Mute Swan, a young Cormorant on the water, 12 Coot, a very early Swallow flying around over the water, a Chiffchaff and 80 Jackdaw over the farm (a long-standing colony based there).

Monday 29th & Tuesday 30th March

My plan for a long weekend to mop up as much birding as possible hit a snag on Monday and Tuesday - awful weather. Even so it did allow me to get around a few far flung places I don't normally manage and a chance to revist a couple. Highlights as follows...

Gransmoor to Burton Agnes; 46 Greylags, 40 Mallard, 11 Tufted Duck, 2 Grey Partridge, 4 Coot, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest, 3 Long-tailed Tit, c50 nests in the Rookery near the railway, and a Bullfinch. The return journey via Harpham and Lowthorpe added a few birds to the weekend; 2 Red-legged Partridge, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Tree Sparrow and 14 Yellowhammer.

In the afternoon rain I battled around the backroads around Nafferton and Wansford, mainly to take a distant look at the heronry. Not a lot to see but there were at least 15 nests visible and 11 herons around the wood. Other birds were 1 Black-headed Gull and 7 Reed Buntings together around a manure heap near Cattleholmes.

On Tuesday a return trip to Gembling and Brigham Quarry added a few birds. At Gembling 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Cormorant, 3 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 6 Redwing, 1 Bullfinch, and 1 Reed Bunting. At Brigham Quarry a Mute Swan, 2 Greylags, 2 Teal, 7 Little Grebe, 3 Oystercatcher, and 2 Sand Martins whizzing around.

Final throw of the dice was another attempt at Lowthorpe-Harpham but it rained most of the time and we got soaked. 2 Grey partridge, a Cormorant heading NE, a Grey Heron... was about yer lot. Bah.

A few other odds and sods to note.

1. Lapwings: perhaps they are late back on territory this year but it was noticeable how few there were - 16 'pairs' seen is around half expected.

2. Gulls: not many about though the first Lesser Black-backs were drifting through, 8 in total. Herring Gulls were also moving though, 18 in total. Common and Black-headed Gulls were virtually absent with only 8 and 1 respectively until I encountered a single flock of 120 Common and 4 Black-headed in Little Kelk right at the last bell on Tuesday.

3. Non-birds: plenty of Hares across the area plus 3 sightings of single Roe Deer. As seen in the pictures from the previous post we found a mass of frog spawn at Lowthorpe and a few toads were noted and several were road kill following the rain. Just two butterflies noted, both Small Tortoiseshell, one each at Lingholmes and Great Kelk.

Yearlist additions, in order of appearance (all were on Saturday!)

081 Sand Martin
082 Osprey
083 Lesser Black-backed Gull
084 Chiffchaff
085 Golden Plover
086 Oystercatcher
087 Swallow