Baggins on the Loose: Marsh Harrier

Friday, 6 May 2022

Every breeding bird counts! Yorkshire birds on show as they gear up for the mating game

Well the Spring is well underway at last and despite not being on top form I seem to have done a half decent job of getting around my local sites. As is sadly becoming the norm at this time of the year, there's lots of chat amongst birders I speak to about the lack of Swallows coming back, and this year was no different with Sand Martins too noticeably absent until well into April for me, and I'm sure I'll be having similar conversations soon about returning Swifts.

It's difficult to be optimistic sometimes, but I try to celebrate what and when I can, 'every breeding bird counts' as they say, and today I was watching reassuringly large flocks of House Martins, Sand Martins and Swallows over Wheldrake Ings this evening.

At the same location a week or so earlier this pair of Redshank were certainly getting in the mood and I was lucky enough to get some half decent shots of the the proceedings from start to finish.

Redshank, Wheldrake Ings, 21/04/2022

Redshank, Wheldrake Ings, 21/04/2022

On my local patch at Fangfoss Park I get Grey Wagtail most months of the year, but rarely 2 together, so a pair the other week in one of the drains around here was encouraging indeed. And in the same location a few days later a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were larkin about in the nearby trees.

Grey Wagtail (female), Fangfoss Park, 13/04/2022

Grey Wagtail (male), Fangfoss Park, 13/04/2022

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Fangfoss Park, 01/05/2022

A trip up to the North Yorks Moors to see my mate Rob produced my first returning Wheatears around the slopes of Saltersgate and although more likely to be passing through than breeding, some distant views of a couple of Ring Ouzels strutting about in a sheep field. Redstarts do breed locally around there though and it was good to see a couple of those too. And Stonechats are in that select band of small birds that seem to be doing well with several sites in the York area with good populations as well as the many pairs on the moors.

Northern Wheatear, Saltergate, 22/04/2022

Stonechat, Fen Bog, 22/04/2022

Willow Warblers have arrived in force with Common Whitethroat not far behind and I've been seeing a couple of Little Egrets, another bird that's doing well of course, hanging around the Spittal Beck nr Fangfoss - only a matter of time before they breed somewhere locally.

Little Egret, Fangfoss, 18/04/2022

Willow Warbler, South Wood, Hovingham, 22/04/2022

Common Whitethroat, Fangfoss, 03/05/2022

Garganey, scarce breeders in the UK, thankfully keep returning to the Lower Derwent Valley and always a thrill to see even if it is usually from afar!

Drake Garganey, Lower Derwent Valley, 02/05/2022

Corn Buntings have been declining as a breeding bird in the UK for years and never a common sight anywhere in Yorkshire, but again the Lower Derwent Valley is a bit of a stronghold for them, and I also regularly spot them in the fields around Holme on Spalding Moor and Everingham. Just great to hear that jangly call, like a someone rattling a bunch of keys, on a still April evening.

Corn Bunting, Lower Derwent Valley, 15/04/2022

Even scarcer these days, sadly our dwindling populations of Willow Tit look to be in real trouble. Long gone are the days when it was not uncommon to see these birds on a regular basis in suitable habitat of wet woodland / willow carrs. Askham Bog used to be an absolute banker for seeing them during the annual bird race in the York area but now you're lucky to see just the one. Not seen 2 together there for over a year and I should know, I'm there nearly every weekend recruiting for YWT. I see and hear one every now and again but not since this one in early March. I really fear for their status as a local breeder.

Willow Tit, Askham Bog, 06/03/2022

There's many that'll tell you that the diminishing number of small birds is because there's so many birds of prey about these days, in fact I've met several game keepers who swear by their breeches that this is the truth - complete bollocks of course, there's actually no credible evidence to support that barnstorming theory. Habitat loss on the other hand, both here and where our summer birds winter, is clear for all to see, just look around!

Top of the food chain, magnificent flying machines and awesome hunters, birds of prey (or 'raptors') are thankfully doing very well in Yorkshire. I'm old enough to remember a time when any sighting of a Common Buzzard outside of the Lake District or Scotland was almost unheard of - now I probably have at least 2 pairs within a square mile of where I live. Red Kites continue to prosper as do Peregrine Falcons, Hobbies, Kestrels seem to be holding their own up here, and Goshawks are expanding too. Most amazing to me though is the onward progress of the Marsh Harrier. Amazing because in 1971 there was just one confirmed breeding pair in the whole of the UK (at Minsmere) and none in Yorkshire until the mid 90s at Blacktoft Sands. Now there's upwards of 500 pairs in the UK with 10ish pairs at Blacktoft, they bred at North Cave Wetlands last year and probably at Wheldrake Ings and several other Yorkshire sites and have even spread as far north as Scotland.

In the birding world these days you have to celebrate the success stories because it's all too easy to slip into total pessimism. It's not all bad; and to my mind, if the top of the food chain (ie raptors) are doing ok then it can't be all doom and gloom for our birds. So to round off this post here's a couple each of recent Red Kite & Marsh Harrier pics along with a few more local breeding birds.