November: Egrets

A lovely autumn weekend, just gone. Some good birds too. The highlight was the (presumed) returning Great White Egret along with several Little Egrets that looked to have settled on Kelk Beck, much like last winter.

Where exactly these egrets live in the summer is a mystery for now but given that very few spend the summer to the north then surely there is a northerly dimension to their winter 'migration' to Kelk. It's probably a safe guess that most are from colonies in the South East that disperse through autumn. There are around 1000 pairs breeding in UK. On the Humber estuary the peak counts for Little Egrets are typically in Aug-Sep. Perhaps 'ours' have spent time there recently. Some basic info here.


November 26th-27th

Mute Swan - 4
Pink-footed Goose - skein of 90 south
Wigeon - 410+ is the largest ever area count
Gadwall - 4
Teal - 200+
Mallard - 60+
Red-legged Partridge - 8
Grey Partridge - 11
Cormorant - 3
Little Egret - 6
GREAT WHITE EGRET - 1
Grey Heron - 7
Sparrowhawk - 1
Buzzard - 7
Kestrel - 5
Peregrine - 1
Golden Plover - 120 flying south
Lapwing - 75
Snipe - 12
Woodcock - 2
Green Sandpiper - 4 (2 Kelk, 2 Wansford)
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 4
Meadow Pipit - 4
Grey Wagtail - 2, possibly 3
Blackbird - 170+
Fieldfare - 360+
Song Thrush - 15+
Redwing - 130+
Mistle Thrush - 5
Coal Tit - 3
Jay - 2
Tree Sparrow - 30+
Brambling - 3
Reed Bunting - 11+

Here's another snap of the big egret. So much of them being only found in massive reedbed reserves and estuaries!

And one of the little uns. Five took up residence last winter and left in early March. Hopefully that will be repeated. It's still less than a decade since I saw my first one in the area.

Two year ticks...

108 Great White Egret
109 Brambling

Look who's back!

In November 2015 a Great White Egret was seen near Kelk Beck. If that wasn't enough of a surprise it was joined by a second bird in December, but neither were evident as 2016 rolled around.

However...

This was almost the same spot as the two last December. Surely this can only be one of last year's birds, returning. Will the other one come back?

Update on the rest of the weekend to follow.

October: Osprey

Like busses, reviews come all at once. Here is a whizz through sightings from October. The unquestionable highlight, possibly bird of the year, was an Osprey drifting west - quite a late date for this species in Yorkshire.

8-9th October

Mute Swan - 21, incl. the Kelk Beck family with 5 young
Pink-footed Goose - 1 on stubbles at Wansford
Greylag Goose - 250+
Canada Goose - 41 is a record local count
Wigeon - 110
Teal - 4
Red-legged Partridge - 16 at Harpham, tame / released
Grey Partridge - 18
Cormorant - 6
Grey Heron - 14
OSPREY - 1
Sparrowhawk - 3
Buzzard - 19
Kestrel - 9
Golden Plover - 300+
Lapwing - 260+
Snipe - 4
Green Sandpiper - 1
Barn Owl - 1
Kingfisher - 1
Skylark - 50+
House Martin - 20+
Swallow - none seen
Meadow Pipit - 10
Grey Wagtail - 1
Pied Wagtail - 15 together at Harpham
Stonechat - 1 at Kelk Beck
Fieldfare - 1
Redwing - 90
Blackcap - 1
Jay - 3
Goldfinch - 60+ flock

My third record of Osprey in the area, though my first in autumn. October is getting late for passing Ospreys so this one was either in no hurry due to the mild weather, or maybe from northern Europe and fresh in over the sea. Either way, an absolute beauty!

Two year ticks...

106 Stonechat
107 Osprey

September: Kite Flying

Not before time, a review for September. It wasn't a vintage month by any stretch of the imagination. Recent weather had been generous to migrants so it's hardly surprising most had left with barely any sign of birds getting a bit lost or early winter arrivals. The two most notable records were an exceptionally late Swift over Little Kelk and a Red Kite drifting north-west. Treecreeper was the sole year-tick.

24-25th September

Mute Swan - 16
Greylag Goose - 70
Canada Goose - 2
Teal - 50+
Mallard - 85+
Little Grebe - 2
Grey Heron - 14
Red Kite - 1 NW over Kelk Lake
Marsh Harrier - 1 female at Kelk Beck
Sparrowhawk - 6
Buzzard - 24
Kestrel - 11
Hobby - 1
Lapwing - 32
'small gulls' - approx 3000 flying E to roost
Swift - 1 on 24th is the latest record for the area
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
House Martin - 50+ at Harpham
Swallow - 'several'
Meadow Pipit - 6
Mistle Thrush - 19 is an excellent count
Chiffchaff - still 2 in song!
Treecreeper - 1
Rook/Jackdaw - 1800 pre-roost gathering
Goldfinch - 60+ flock
Bullfinch - 1

It was that time of year again, tame Pheasants everywhere, recently released from their pens in the woods at Harpham/Lowthorpe.

Just the one year tick...

105 Treecreeper