November pictures

And finally...

This was the write up from, ooh, only last week: Winter Corn

1.Great Spotted Woodpecker at Harpham - the woods around there are pretty reliable for this species but they can be tricky to see in the canopy. Probably the best views are had privately from kitchen windows as they will visit bird tables. The lack of red on the head/neck says this is an adult female.

2. Heron from Lowthorpe bridge. This one kindly posed for a while.

3. Snipe. No, really! I couldn't find another pic so this might be the first one I've ever snapped. Typically the birds I see are odd ones flushed from field drains or seen distantly on wet areas. The last couple of years have been very poor for Snipe locally.

4. Corn Buntings in Kelk. Although the plumage is difficult to determine from this poor record shor the outline shape and pose is fairly characteristic of this species. There were a total of 9 in the flock, which is exceptional compared to recent years. One of them even burst into song.

5. Autumn leaves - Field Maple. Not a common tree locally but there are a fair few scattered among hedgerows and they're especially distinctive at this stage.

Let normal service resume... er, hopefully that doesn't mean 'as late as normal'.

October pictures

Five from October. Here was the write-up: "September and October"

1. Long-tailed Duck at Kelk Lake. A complete surprise

2. Slightly better shot of the Long-tailed Duck. Possibly an immature female bird.

3. Part of a large flock of Golden Plover. Autumn is the main time to see this species locally, with a shorter and less predictable passage in spring. They're not a bird you expect to see much of in winter around here.

4. Common Gull in its least familiar '2nd Winter' plumage, showing the characteristic 'smudging' across the outer wing, almost like they could be oil stains. Only a small percentage of birds are in this plumage, most individuals are (long-lived) adults and because mortality rate is high in young birds the majority of immature birds are '1st Winter'.

5. Cock Pheasant. Nothing much to note. October is a Pheasanty kind of month, locally released birds are everywhere before the main shoots have taken place.