Right.
A rather splendid weekend when all said and done. Yet another April Red Kite (3rd in recent years) and a local mega in the form of a superbly out-of-the-blue WILLOW TIT. Plenty of spring migrants but few species in large numbers just yet. Wheatear and Corn Bunting were the best of the rest.
Saturday 27th April
Harpham/Lowthorpe: 2 Greylag, 3 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 2 Oystercatcher, 16 Lapwing, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, several Sand Martin, 20+ Swallow and 5+ House Martin. Other migrants included 3 Meadow Pipit, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Blackcap, 6 Chiffchaff, and 5 Willow Warbler, but to be fair most birds weren't singing so there could easily have been lots more. Also seen were 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Bullfinch, and 2 very late Siskin (pair) feeding in larches.
Bird of the day was undoubtedly the WILLOW TIT seen in a hedgerow near Lingholmes plantation. It moved quickly along the hedgerow in the direction of Kelk Lake. A fairly brief but definite identification (including call), the similar Marsh Tit would actually be less likely here. I had a small number of sightings in the 1990s but nothing since. The species has become regionally scarce with only a few sites in East Yorkshire supporting them and nationally they are in heavy decline: BTO & BBC
Kelk: 2 Shelduck, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 18 Lapwing, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Tawny Owl, 8 Yellow Wagtails, 15+ Pied Wagtail, a Wheatear, 2 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Whitethroat, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 20+ Linnet (a year tick!), and best of the afternoon a singing Corn Bunting near Gransmoor Quarry.
2 Mute Swan at Kelk Lake have built a nest but the only other water-bird was a single Coot. 500+ Common Gull flew east to roost at dusk, presumably all immature birds in no hurry to migrate while all the adults should have moved back to the breeding grounds in Scotland and northern Europe by now.
Sunday 28th April
Kelk Beck: 2 Mute Swan, 2 Greylag, 2 Gadwall, 1 late Teal, 18 Mallard, 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard, 1 Coot, 18 Lapwing, 1 Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Great Black-backed Gull (unseasonal), 20+ Sand Martin, 1 Meadow Pipit, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Sedge Warbler, 4 Willow Warbler, 30+ Linnet, and 2 Reed Bunting.
Gembling/Foston/Millingdale: 2 Mute Swan, 22 Greylag, 4 Gadwall, 8 Mallard, 5 Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 8 Coot, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Blackcap, 1 Whitethroat, and 4 Willow Warbler.
I'm doing this back-to-front but the best bird of the day was one of the first in the morning - a Red Kite flying west over Little Kelk. This establishes a pattern where 3 of the last 4 have been in April. I wonder if these are young Yorkshire raised birds roaming the countryside for possible territory.
The only butterflies seen all weekend were 1 'white' and 2 Peacock. Clearly not quite spring enough for them!
And now a few half-baked attempts at photos.
Starling singing from the rooftops in Little Kelk. They thrive in the gardens around the village.
Roe Deer road kill at Harpham. Looked pretty fresh - bet that made a dent in someone's wing!
Female Yellow Wagtail. The males are so attention grabbing it's easy to overlook the delightfully lemony females, definitely worth a second look.
And let's not forget Pied Wagtails. A spring male of the British subspecies is a masterclass in the use of black - fashionistas take note.
Last but not least is an admittedly lousy record shot of one of the Siskins at Harpham on Saturday. A very late record for the area of what is a tricky bird to track down locally.
A whopping 18 additions to the yearlist:
075 Curlew
076 Cuckoo
077 Yellow Wagtail
078 Swallow
079 Willow Tit
080 Meadow Pipit
081 Willow Warbler
082 House Martin
083 Sand Martin
084 Blackcap
085 Shelduck
086 Wheatear
087 Corn Bunting
088 Linnet
089 Whitethroat
090 Lesser Whitethroat
091 Red Kite
092 Sedge Warbler
Now that's looking a bit more like it - bring it on!
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