Wet, windy, a big freeze, mass flooding - just a normal January?

Not that I'm a weather nerd or anything but I do keep a rough journal of what's happening out there via my garden birds records and by my reckoning there were just 10 days between the last week of December up until the end of January when it wasn't either pouring down with rain or blowing a hoolie. No wonder I've felt as if I've been hibernating! 

Part of that 'retreat' was because I wasn't always feeling at my best but, as always, getting out and walking in the fresh air trumped staying in and sitting on my arse every single time - even when it was freezing cold. And cold it was during that mini freeze in the middle of January but strangely enough when everything else seemed to be locked into cold storage I spotted my first wild flowers of the year, a spread of beautiful Winter Aconites on a roadside verge in Thornton nr the Pocklington Canal.

Winter Aconites, Thornton, 16/01/2024

That cold snap didn't last long but as ever produced some magical winter wonderland spectacles out there - 

Bubwith Ings from Aughton church, 19/01/2024

Bubwith Ings from Aughton church, 19/01/2024

Common Snipe, Blacktoft Sands, 18/01/2024

Somewhat foolishly I trecked out to Blacktoft Sands expecting it to be less frozen over on the Humber and hence more birds but it was just the same and all I managed was a close up Snipe in front of one of the hides looking for something soft to probe its beak into! 

Flooded path at Howsham, 01/01/2024

Such a topsy turvy month weatherwise - a couple of weeks earlier, just after New Year it was unseasonally mild with blue skies and sunshine, but just like eveyone else in the country we had floods to contend with after a very wet December, wettest on record up here. A planned walk along the River Derwent at Howsham was abruptly halted by flooded paths and I had to head up to the hills and Howsham Woods to escape the mud -  such is life in this climate change world!

Howsham Woods, 01/01/2024

Bilsdale, 07/01/2024

Another trek up into the hills saw me trudging up Bilsdale in the North Yorks Moors. It was a trudge too, good exercise and some fine scenery but hardly another living thing to be seen save a few Red Grouse! Always an outside chance of Hen Harrier up there and that was certainly in my mind when I set off but after 3 hrs worth of walking (most of which seemed to be uphill) I called it quits and popped into Birch Wood on the way back and ticked off Nuthatch and Treecreeper off the year list.

Bilsdale, 07/01/2024

Flamborough Head, 09/01/2024

One trip to the coast to twitch long staying Red Headed Bunting at Flamborough was ruined by near gale forces winds (bad planning!) and let's say the bird had its head down somewhere warm and cosy😜... but in more sheltered Bridlington Bay I at least got some nice waders on the shoreline including a small flock of Grey Plovers.

Grey Plovers, Bridlington Bay, 09/01/2024

After much more January precipitation most of the Lower Derwent Valley was submersed again after briefly becoming almost passable earlier in the month, and viewing was tricky. The bridge at Bubwith is always worth a mooch around at such times and this pleasing flock of Dunlin cheered me up on a dull day.

Dunlin, Bubwith Bridge, 19/01/2024

The rains abatted towards the end of the month and it was almost a local event when access to the last bird hide at Wheldrake Ings was finally possible, albeit with big wellies, and it was a bittersweet moment to be able walk past that noisy windmill again, as photogenic as it is!

Wheldrake Ings, 26/01/2024

Lesser Redpoll, Southcliffe Common, 05/01/2024

In between the rain deluges I somehow managed 2 trips to Southcliffe Common, I like it around there mainly because nobody else seems to bother with it, but it is quite an impressive patch of ancient field systems, ditches and drains with scattered woodland that eventually connect with the Market Weighton Canal. I get Marsh Harriers there nearly every time I go, had Jack Snipe in the canal, Green Sandpiper in the drains and Green Woodpecker in the woodlands. 

This time around produced 4 Marsh Harriers, no doubt from the nearby Humber populations, Lesser Redpoll and one of the biggest flocks of Brambling I've had for many a year - about 170 in 2 distinct flocks across the patch. It has been a good Brambling year, I wonder if it's coincidental that it's also been a good Waxwing year; both Northern European winter visitors.

Southcliffe Common, 11/01/2024

Southcliffe Common, 05/01/2024

All in all, not a bad haul for a January that was full of unsettling weather, few opportunities to get out to be frank better for consuming box sets than bird watching! And the month ended on a high in more ways than one with a cracking gig in Leeds - went to see Margaret Glaspy on her UK tour, and a few days before another first for the year list, a couple of Scaup at Wheldrake along with a female Smew.

Scaup, Wheldrake Ings, 26/01/2024

Margaret Glaspy, Leeds Brudenell club, 31/01/2024

As per usual, a few more pics from round and about this month .......

World's End, Strensall Common, 12/01/2024

Top of Bilsdale, 07/01/2024

River Derwent at Howsham, 01/01/2024

Slavonian Grebe, Smew and Velvet Scoter on the same day, a freezing cold snap and then the promise of Spring.

I'm out of the Pocklington area, sold my house there (just felt too hemmed in living in a mid terrace house), and temporarily moved back to York with a view to buying something a bit more rural, even considering buying a canal boat🚤

February was a total mixed bag weatherwise - the floods persisted until the end of the month and a cold snap with much snow and ice adding to already high water levels when it all thawed, and then some clear skies and warmth at the end of the month brought more than a hint of the spring to come🌸. Here's my February round up then.

Lower Derwent Valley / Pocklington Canal - 5 visits throughout the month. 

With the floodwaters not properly receding until the latter half of the month, when at least the first hide at Wheldrake Ings was accessible, viewing was once again largely restricted to the edges of the valley but there was good viewing to be had with a Slavonian Grebe at Bank Island and 4 very distant Smew on the 21st from the Thorganby viewing area.

Slavonian Grebe, Bank Island, 17/02/21

Elsewhere a big flock of 177 Whooper Swans contained 2 Berwicks Swans and an escaped Black Swan in the fields around North Duffield - can't count the Black but the Berwicks were new for the year as were a flock of 37 Corn Buntings into roost at Thornton Ings on the 3rd. A cold snap early in the month lasted for a fortnight and brought plenty of snow and icy conditions. Snowdrops were joined by Lesser Celandines when the land thawed out and the floodwaters receded.

Whooper Swans (plus a single Black Swan), North Duffield, 01/02/21

Whooper, Berwick & Mute Swans, North Duffield, 01/02/21

Snowy Pocklington Canal, 08/02/21

Lesser Celandines, Wheldrake Ings, 21/02/21

Askham Bog (09/02/21) - popped in hoping to get a Willow Tit but nothing doing but worth going just to see the landscape with all the recent floodwater iced over. Never seen it like before and neither have I ever seen a skating Grey Squirrel!

Grey Squirrel, Askham Bog, 09/02/21

Clifton Ings (12/02/21) - there was a reported Iceland Gull here the previous day but no sign of it when I was there. Best birds were a passing flock of  Goosanders. 

Goosanders, Clifton Ings, York, 12/02/21

Wykeham Raptor viewpoint before the mist cleared, 15/02/21

Wykeham (15/02/21) - managed to see a single Goshawk after a heavy mist cleared to blue skies. It was flying straight towards me but a way off when it went into a loopy dive (bit of early display?) then sadly lost it once the camera was raised. It was another new bird for the year but not the views I was after!

Ashberry, 16/02/21

Ashberry & Rievaulx Abbey (16/02/21) - Not much around apart from a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Nuthatch, 2 Sparrowhawks and a few Winter Aconites poking through the undergrowth. Later I entertained myself with trying to get some moody pics of the abbey.

Winter Aconite, Ashberry, 16/02/21

Rievaulx Abbey, 16/02/21

Strensall Common (19/02/21) - flushed 4 Common Snipe, saw 1 Stonechat and heard a Green Woodpecker but not a lot else. 

Strensall Common, 19/02/21

Acaster South Ings (21/02/21) - a great bird for the York area, a 1st winter male Velvet Scoter on the River Ouse. First spotted around the 12th the bird had disappeared the next day when I went down, so it was pleasing to hear that it had reappeared. Lord knows how or why it 's ended up here and a very unexpected addition to the year list.

Velvet Scoter, River Ouse at Acaster South Ings, 21/02/21

Pulfin Bog (22/02/21) - walked down to the reserve with Rob but there was no access because of flooding but the Eske Lake and surrounding floodwaters were viewable and there looked to be hundreds if not thousands of wildfowl, but all too distant and neither of us had a scope. We walked down as far as Leven Carrs and the start of the canal there. A single Goldeneye, a Barn Owl and 22 Redshank were the meagre birding highlights but the weather was great.

Looking over Arram Carrs towards Watton, from Pulfin Bog, 22/02/21

Earlier on the same day I managed to get some reasonable pics of the Goosanders at the back of my mother's house. Up to 18 have been present there all winter.

Goosanders, Elmfield Terr. Brick Pond, 22/02/21

North Cave Wetlands (23/02/21) - a poor weather day, at least there were less people there😀 but very poor light that resulted in such grainy pictures I deleted them all! A noticeable drop off in wildfowl numbers with only 140 Wigeon, c210 Teal, c60 Gadwall, c70 Mallard, c80 Tufted Duck, 13 Pochard, 15 Shoveler and 17 Shelduck. Gloomy though it was, there was a hint of spring with 13 Oystercatchers, my first returning from the coast, heading for the dales I should think but quite a few breed here in the lowlands.

Oulston Reservoir (25/02/21) - a brief walk around this favourite haunt of mine when I don't feel up for a full tramp around Yearsley Moor. A Kingfisher and a couple of relatively confiding Goosanders being the birding highlights and with some full on sunshine the abundant Snowdrops around on the roadside verges were most dazzling😎.

Goosanders, Oulston Reservoir, 25/02/21

Snowdrops, near Oulston Reservoir, 25/02/21

Huttons Bank Wood (27/02/21) - Circular walk around this wood that lies on the other side of the A64 from Castle Howard and on the other side of the River Derwent from YWT reserve Jeffry Bog. First time I'd done the walk and it was a delight on another sunny day.

Got my first Marsh Tits of the year and my earliest ever flowering Primroses. 

Primroses, Huttons Bank Wood, 26/02/21

Later, on the edge of Low Hutton village, I saw what on first sight appeared to be an Otter swimming down the River Derwent, but a later inspection of my pics revealed it to be a Mink (its got a pink nose and lacks the more rounded / less vicious face of an otter - is pc to say that these days or might I be vicariously insulting some Mink appreciation society😂). They are vicious mind!

Mink, River Derwent, 26/02/21

Hempholme (28/02/21) - trip out to follow up on some enquiries about a possible mooring for a liveaboard canal boat - you only live once and its a dream I've had for a while. Its a great spot, perhaps a bit 'out on a limb'? I'm looking into it all and have a few other moorings in mind a bit more central Yorkshire.

Canal boats at Hempholme, 28/02/21

Some great wide, big sky vistas to be around there though, and plenty of wildlife with the added bonus of having Tophill Low nature reserve literally on the doorstep😀

River Hull at Hempholme, 28/02/21

River Hull & Frodingham Beck junction at Hempholme, 28/02/21

Little Egrets, Hempholme, 28/02/21

Lapwings, Hempholme, 28/02/21

Small Tortoiseshell, Hempholme, 28/02/21

On the way home I stopped in Brandsburton and couldn't resist stopping for these gorgeous spring Crocus bursting out in spring colour on the green. 

Crocus, Brandsburton, 28/02/21

Crocus, Brandsburton, 28/02/21

10 new bird species added to my year list during the month taking me up to 117. Bring on March!