Yorkshire floods, early singers and bloomers, uplifting landscapes and aerial manouvers over the LDV

Up until this last w/e, as far as I can recall, up here in the north, we've had precisely 5 decent weather days since early November - someone might be bothered to check that and hey my memory ain't great, but suffice to say its bin reet gloomy up ere!



Gloomy and wet! This flood alert map for the UK was a typical scenario for any given day in the 2nd half of December and just about says it all!




A few choice flood pics later but with a stack of images around re the chaos and havoc reeked in some of our northern towns and cities, including around my home city of York, there's not a lot more I want to add.






So here we are well in January and at last a few bright days and opportunities to get out and about.
The planets are aligned (worth checking out by the way) and so too the off duties of a couple of my good mates and a day tramping around the Lower Derwent Valley brought some pleasing results ...

We met at the old Church Bridge at Melbourne to be greeted by a singing Song Thrush giving it plenty. Its been so mild of late that many birds have been tricked into thinking that it's nearly spring. I've been hearing Great Tits singing for a while now and there's many reports of Daffodils in full bloom. Skip to my footnote for an even earlier bloomer!

Anyway, back to Winter and the LDV. First off were 3 White Fronted Geese in amongst Greylags at Thornton Ings. We never get many of these relatively scarce geese around here but a few turn up every year so always good to track down.


White Fronted Geese, Thornton Ings, 23/01/16

Several Pintails flying around (prob 30ish) in amongst several hundred Wigeon  but you've gotta like Pintails! So graceful and different looking.

Pintails (male and female), Thornton Ings, 23/01/16

Pintails (2 males and female), Thornton Ings, 23/01/16

and check this out ... not the best of pics and I wouldn't normally include this one, but here's the same small flock of Pintail plus attendant Lapwings apparently stopped in their tracks by an approaching Sparrowhawk that none of us spotted at the time.

Pintail spooked by a Sparrowhawk (top left), Thornton Ings, 23/01/16

I guess that's the value of taking lots and lots of pics of flocks of birds - you never know what you might later pick out! Here's another - mainly Lapwings but if you look closer, several other smaller waders in amongst. In this case we reckoned Dunlin and all told maybe 60 in total. You can never rule out the odd Ruff or even Knot in amongst such flocks but I've scoured this pic and pretty sure they're all Dunlin.

Dunlin in with Lapwings, Ellerton, 23/01/16

A few Golden Plover flocks around too, no pics but maybe 150 or so.



Peregrine Falcon (male), Ellerton, 23/01/16

Here's a very distant pic of the culprit in the above mass take off of waders around Ellerton church, a male Peregrine Falcon that had earlier had a go at a careless but on this occasion lucky Lapwing.



















At the same location there were many many Wigeon (1000+) but not as many as on previous occasions I've been down here, but with so much flood water, Peregrines around and Saturday morning boy shooters taking pot shots at tame Pheasants (come on guys, that's such poor sport!) everything gets so dispersed. These Whooper Swans for instance had been pushed right up to the edge of the churchyard by all the shooting (they're usually way over on the far bank).

Whooper Swans (2 adults & 3 juvs), Ellerton, 23/01/16

At North Duffield we had a single male Scaup in with about 100 Pochard and 20 or so Tufted Ducks - too distant for a pic but its my first Scaup of the Winter and good to get a nice male.

Yet another great day out around the LDV!

Ok, as promised a pic or 2 of the recent floods. My home city of York plus nearby Selby and Tadcaster were all drenched with much havoc, media coverage and ...well .. wetness.! All gone now and most Yorkshire folk I speak to just don't talk about it anymore.. "Aye, its 'appened a fore, n reet as rain it'll 'appen again!"

Floods in York, Dec 2015

Askham Bog flooded, 27/12/15

Askham Bog flooded, 27/12/15




Cawood (nr Selby), 28/12/15

..and to round  things off, a few pics from the odd occasions that the sun shone over the New Year period and I managed to get out. Here's a couple of great Redwing images - I've decided that they're far easier to photograph in flight than on the ground or perched when they're sooo skittish!

Redwing, Fangfoss, 24/12/15

Redwing, Fangfoss, 24/12/15

Cot Nabb and nearby Givendale in the Yorkshire Wolds is one of my favourite places to visit and walk around when I want to just get away from it all and clear out my head, you barely see a soul out there and on this particular morning earlier this month all my relatively minor issues in the grand world scale of things were put firmly into perspective!

Cot Nab, Yorkshire Wolds, 11/01/16

Cot Nab, Yorkshire Wolds, 11/01/16

Cot Nab, Yorkshire Wolds, 11/01/16



Red Kite, Givendale, Yorkshire Wolds, 11/01/16

I know they're becoming a little ubiquitous in some parts of Yorkshire (they're all over Harrogate / Leeds area), and I know some folk (well, just gamekeepers really) have little time for them, but there's a reason why they're one of the most photographed of British birds .....


Red Kite, Givendale, Yorkshire Wolds, 11/01/16

Just as uplifting, here's the Mausoleum at Castle Howard viewed from the back way into the estate







The Mausoleum, Castle Howard, 20/01/16

  

 



Footnote
I was out on YWT duty today at Askham Bog, really mild it was and on my way out at sunset I spotted a flowering Lesser Celandine. Yes its an early flowering plant but traditionally it appears late Feb/ early March - this January 24th!

Lesser Celandine, Askham Bog, 24/01/2016

A Lower Derwent Valley ramble at Xmas

Yeah yeah yeah, a very merry Christmas to all ..... I'm looking forward to the social but have to say everything else is just way way OTT for me!

Here's another celebration and one which gladdens my heart no end ... as of today we get more daylight hours, hurragh! 'Bout time too and if more needs to be said then nature itself spoke today with glorious sunlight and 1 extra minute of it!

I was out and about in the Lower Derwent Valley (LDV) to soak it all up along with approximately 4000 Wigeon, lots more ducks, 50 or so Whooper Swans a hoopin and a passing Peregrine a preyin!

LDV flood plains at Ellerton

The 2 villages of Ellerton and Aughton and their respective churches are 2 of the best spots for viewing the flood plains of the LDV

LDV flood plains at Ellerton

Whooper Swans, LDV, 23/12/15

The Whoopers were distant but present and correct and in their usual haunts, no Berwick's Swans ..maybe they'll come in the next cold snap (if we even have one!). Here's an opportunistic long distant shot that more or less came out ok.





At some point some local shooting put up just about every wild duck and goose in the entire place (the Whoopers couldn't be bothered ...shame 'cos you can't beat a good wild swan in flight shot!).

2nd prize ... a great Wigeon 3some!

Wigeon, LDV, 23/12/15

Golden Plover, LDV, 23/12/15

A single Barnacle Goose in amongst the Greylags was noteworthy, as was a count of 75 Shelduck on the river bank at Ellerton. In amongst the many Lapwings (c1500) there were some sizeable groups of Dunlin (I reckoned c70 in total), a possible Ruff and about 100 Golden Plover - good to see but numbers are way down from the flocks of 2000+ I remember a couple of decades ago.




Golden Plover, LDV, 23/12/15

I was half expecting it with all those birds up in the air but wasn't quite ready for a swift and close Peregrine fly by ... it was a big 'un!


Peregrine Falcon, LDV, 23/12/15



Peregrine Falcon, LDV, 23/12/15

Common Kestrel, LDV, 23/12/15

Compared to that big docker above this Kestrel seems dwarfed but for the 30 minutes or so I spent at Aughton church watching the comings and goings, this little thing remained in situ perched .. waiting for a meal to appear from below

Common Kestrel, LDV, 23/12/15

He won't be interested in Turkey or mince pies but lets hope he nabs an extra vole or 2 on Christmas Day because he sure wasn't having much luck today!



Around Scrayingham: A saxon church on the flood plain and a good day for landscapes

One of the few bright mornings of late and a glorious walk around Scrayingham Woods brought me a half decent picture of a Redwing and some nice landscapes ....




Flood plain at Scrayingham, N.Yorks. 02/12/15

Lying in the shadow of the Yorkshire Wolds and right next to the River Derwent, much of the land here is low lying and judging by the water level in the river the flood plain will soon be doing its job

River Derwent at Scrayingham. 02/12/15

Scrayingham Church

The church at Scrayingham (St Peter & St Paul) has recently been dated back to the 7th century and of Saxon origin (more info here). George Hudson, a Victorian pioneer of the railways and son of York is buried here and situated just a few metres from the banks of the river its an impressive landmark.








Plenty of birds about but nothing spectacular ... Nuthatch, Marsh Tit and around 15 or so Bullfinches being the standouts along with of course many flocks of winter thrushes. Here's my Redwing...damn shame about that twig but its typical of the pose!

Still looking for that elusive full frame Redwing pic with no twigs in the way!


These last few are from my last trip out with Mark P around the River Idle (see last post) ... landscapes and a couple of the old codger himself!

Frustratingly this was just about the best light of an otherwise dull and squally day and you sense the moisture in the air under those leaden skies ...

Around the River Idle. 18/11/15

Around the River Idle. 18/11/15

Mark P surveys the scene. River Idle. 18/11/15

River Idle again

 

 

 



September ins and outs down my way, young swallows venture south and the finches move in.

September .. the summer crops are gathered in and wild flowers are blooming their last. Nights are drawing in, temperatures are dropping, cricket's days are done and rugby takes centre stage, and small birds of many species are moving south .....

Almost all of the Swallows around Fangfoss Park have now departed, slightly earlier than last year when I had good numbers well into the last week of September and then the odd late straggler into the first week of October. Their long and often hazardous flight down to sub Saharan Africa must be a daunting one for all this year's young ones and, although many other birds undertake the self same amazing journey, there is something endearingly magical about the annual departure of these vulnerable looking wee birds.



Barn Swallow, Strensall Common, 10/09/15 

These youngsters were 2 of many that were massing together on Strensall Common a couple of weeks ago and obviously getting ready to go. They'll be well on their way now, their journey time south to Africa is a lot more leisurely than the dash back north in the Spring and these 2 can be reasonably confident of catching flies under South African skies within a couple of months but my they look so fragile!








Barn Swallow, Strensall Common, 10/09/15




Blackcap, Fangfoss, 21/09/15

Departure time from Europe for many other birds too, including many warblers using the UK as a convenient stop off point and feeding station. The many hedgerows around my local patch here in Fangfoss have held many Willow Warblers, ChiffChaffs, Whitethroats and Blackcaps over the past few weeks and even a couple of Lesser Whitethroats ... sadly not able to photograph the latter but as with my Whinchat of a couple of weeks ago a welcome new species for the area.




Willow Warbler, Fangfoss, 22/09/15

Spotted Flycatchers bred here this year and this may be one of the youngsters but could equally be another individual on passage ... it was in amongst a roving group of tits and warblers.



Spotted Flycatcher, Fangfoss, 15/09/15

Lesser Redpoll, Fangfoss, 21/09/15

There's a lot of fruit laden hedgerows around the countryside at the moment and all worthy of a look if you're looking for migrants (and I don't mean Syrians!). Just as the warblers, chats and flycatchers feed up on this seasonal feast before heading south, other birds are arriving on our shores either to stay or in transit - Blackbirds, Robins and assorted finches have all increased in numbers of late and a small flock of Lesser Redpolls in amongst the more numerous Goldfinches is a sure sign of the changing season ...




Lesser Redpoll, Fangfoss, 21/09/15

Goldfinch, Strensall Common,

No Redwings or Fieldfares have made it this far inland as yet but a steady increase in Blackbird numbers, like this one gorging on Elderberries.



Good to see some healthy flocks of Lapwings back in the fields too ...


Lapwings, Fangfoss, 15/09/15

I'm glad my Aug 24th Honey Buzzard sighting finally made it onto the Flamborough bird observatory site here - http://fbo.org.uk/category/sightings/ It was the highlight of my day too, even though I had to study the pictures before I realised what it was!

Back here in the Yorkshire Wolds our own Common Buzzards seem to go from strength to strength with up to 8 in my immediate vicinity.

Common Buzzard, Fangfoss, 16/09/15



Common Buzzard, Fangfoss, 16/09/15

Lucky shot of this one calling as it swept past me!


Almost certainly I'll be heading out to the coast soon to catch some more visible migration ... maybe an October trip out to Spurn when the winter thrushes start coming in, but in truth I'm more than happy walking the lanes and hedgerows of my own patch!