Beast be gone

With the beastly-east-ness gone it was business as usual last weekend, give or take the odd Glossy Ibis. Time, then, for a March visit summary.

Lots of fields have surface water. With a bit of luck there will be some patches still left in April that attracts the odd migrant wader. Recent springs have been very lean but Greenshank, Ruff, Dunlin would be likely candidates. But I digress...

Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th March

Mute Swan - 35 at Wansford, +3 elsewhere
Greylag Goose - 18
Canada Goose - 8
Shelduck - 2
Gadwall - 10
Teal - 110 incl flocks of 60 and 40
Tufted Duck - 28 ...and surprisingly a year tick!
Little Grebe - 1
Great Crested Grebe - 1 is the first since 2010
Cormorant - 1
Little Egret - 3
Heron - 11
GLOSSY IBIS - 1
Marsh Harrier - 1
Sparrowhawk - 2
Buzzard - 24
Kestrel - 12
Oystercatcher - 4
Golden Plover - 90
Lapwing - 20
Snipe - 26
Woodcock - 3
Stock Dove - flock of 12
Barn Owl - 7 ... the most in one visit for a long time
Kingfisher - 2
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 4
Skylark - 30+
Meadow Pipit - 3
Fieldfare - 375 in four flocks, max 170
Redwing - 1
Chiffchaff - 2 singing
Linnet - flock of 50+
Bullfinch - 2
Reed Bunting - 6

And now some images.

1. Flock of Fieldfare moving overhead. Although less than in February the total of 375 is still high.

2. Great Crested Grebe at Wansford. Since the demise of Kelk Lake there hasn't been a single record in the area, the last being 2010. Spring always used to be the most likely time to find one.

3. Marsh Harrier. What a stunner. I didn't notice this until it was almost overhead - eyes to the skies!

4. Shelduck on field flood. Odd pairs turn up in spring but then usually disappear after a month or so. Whether they (attempt to) breed every year is unknown but I have seen young in two different years.

5. Starlings hanging out on their own social media. Glossy, yes. Ibis, not at all.

Yearlist update

072 Chiffchaff
073 Glossy Ibis
074 Gadwall
075 Oystercatcher
076 Tufted Duck
077 Shelduck
078 Great Crested Grebe

Eye Bliss

Well this wasn't in the script. I almost should know better by now than to be surprised by what turns up, but come on, this is getting ridiculous :)

GLOSSY IBIS in the area. The bird's location is sensitive to disturbance so I'll decline to say where it was for now.

The timing of my visit felt encouraging. I left work on Friday with a 'good weekend' feeling about it. Not least because of the weather. A week earlier and I would have been battling a bitter east wind, the so-called 'Mini Beast from the East' following the 'proper' beast's snow in late February. Instead there was calm, sunshine and double digit temperatures. Spring!


Even so, a relatively unremarkable Saturday unfolded with little to show for it other than the first singing Chiffchaff of the year. Seemingly out of nowhere a strange 'small dark heron' lifted itself 'crow-like' and flew around a bit before coming down nearby.

My camera was on as I was trying to take a picture of something else at the time and fortunately I managed a couple of shots before it vanished. It was obviously a Glossy Ibis. What a way to liven up a weekend.

Glossy Ibis are nationally scarce visitors to the UK from southern Europe. Formerly very rare here, something of an explosion in arrivals has occured following the growth of breeding numbers in Spain and France. Regular influxes have occured since 2007, leading to a pair breding in Lincolnshire in 2014.

In Yorkshire they are still a rare bird. Following a record of four together in 1997 there were none at all in the first decade of the century until 2009, and since then one or two have been seen annually. Autumn is the most likely time for one to arrive, though almost any time is possible. Coastal areas and big wetland reserves dominate the locations of sightings.

Summary of the weekend (7 new species for the year) to follow...