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!

My second Spring, out and about in the Wolds, North Cave Wetlands, atmospheric Barnies and Common Cranes in Yorkshire!

Ist Swallow, Thornton Ings, 5apr2015

Back from my Iberian travels and straight back into a typical stop start UK Spring - not too dissimilar from Spain really... blowing hot & cold! Great to be back into the swing of things with YWT but ain't there a lot to do when you return from a long trip! Almost feel as if the Spring is passing me by such have been the twin demands of work, catching up with folk and a distinct lack of 'get up and go' after so many foreign and exotic adventures. I've had a few trips out though and had some good moments in my 2nd Spring!



Barn Swallow, Wheldrake Ings, 20apr2015

Swallows were back in my neck of the woods first week of April and who knows, some of them might have flown past me when I was in Spain - highly unlikely but a nice thought!













Snakes Head Fritillary, Wheldrake, 20apr2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring flowers are popping up everywhere with these Snakes Head Fritillaries on the sheep field at Wheldrake being my favourites of the month

Snakes Head Fritillary, Wheldrake, 20apr2015

Closely followed by these gorgeous Primroses high up on the Yorkshire Wolds nr Bishop Wilton


Primroses, Bishop Wilton, 10apr2015

Lovely indeed but the morning I took these was the day a shed load of poor air drifted in from the continent on SE winds and that wasn't so lovely!

Poor air quality over Bishop Wilton, 10apr2015

I had my first Willow Warblers singing on the 15th and a rare treat of a passage Ring Ouzel close to my local patch on the top of Garrowby Hill on the 10th, a full on male, but frustratingly shrouded in twigs till it flew off north.

Yellowhammer (male), Fangfoss, 5apr2015

My local birds are looking resplendently colourful and there are singing Linnets, Yellowhammers, Greenfinches, Skylarks and Thrushes down my back lane here at Fangfoss and both Sparrowhawks and Common Buzzards have been performing their aerial courtship displays with gusto!

Common Buzzard, Fangfoss, 5thapr2015

Talking of raptors, there's a prospective pair of Peregrines on York Minster. I hope they breed and with luck I'll get some pics. They seem to be doing alright and this is one of several in the Lower Derwent Valley where they nest in the big electricity pylons there ...

Peregrine Falcon, LDV, 17apr2015

After a superbly successful breeding season last year and a relatively mild winter I'm pleased to see so many Barn Owls on the wing. I've struggled to get a 'gripper' pic but its always an atmospheric moment when you watch a 'ghost bird' hunting and I'm well pleased with the artsy feel of these...

Barn Owl, Wheldrake, 20apr2015



Barn Owl, Millington, 6apr2015







Barn Owl, Wheldrake, 20apr2015

Got my first Swift yesterday (28/4) at North Cave Wetlands, along with Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Common Tern and Yellow Wagtail (all first for the year). Failed to get decent pics of any of them but the Avocets were easier ... I so hope the Black Headed Gulls don't take all the young this year as they have done in previous years.

 

Avocet, North Cave, 28apr2015

Avocet, North Cave, 28apr2015

 


 

I didn't see a single Common Whitethroat all the time I was in Spain, couple of weeks too early, but pleased to see and hear so many in the hedgerows again ....

 



Singing Common Whitethroat, North Cave, 28apr2015



 

I've saved my best birds till last and hopefully you've scrolled down this far. I've had more than my fill of Common Cranes in France and Spain over the years but not seen many in the UK, so to see a small bunch turn up in a field in Yorkshire recently was a bonus. Not entirely surprising as they're expanding as a breeding bird with small but successful numbers of breeding birds in Norfolk and Somerset. For obvious reasons I can't reveal the location and don't bother asking, just enjoy the pics ...

 



Common Cranes, Yorkshire, Spring 2015



 

Common Cranes, Yorkshire, Spring 2015







Common Cranes, Yorkshire, Spring 2015



More than a little hint of courtship going on so hope they're successful.

 



 



Otter Surprise!

Apparently Otters are now present on the water courses of every county in the UK and back to something like their historic numbers before river pollution and agricultural pesticides in the post war years nearly wiped them out. Now, thanks to steady and sustained improvements in water quality and the use of less harmful pesticides over the past couple of decades, the chances of coming across these charming and iconic creatures on our waterways have vastly improved.

On the Western coasts of Scotland they have adapted to become semi marine and are relatively easy to see on the rocky beaches and secluded inlets up there, but in the rest of the UK, although more numerous, they remain elusive and its a real treat when you come across one. Well was I treated a couple of mornings ago or what! On my local patch here at Fangfoss Park on the Spittal Beck I'd just grabbed a new bird for the site, a Kingfisher darting down the beck, and then some dark shapes in the water caught my eye. For the next 20 minutes I was utterly transfixed, treated and smiled upon by the photographic gods as 2 Otters (cubs I think) played around on the beckside and swam in the water directly in front of me!

Less nattering from me, here's the pics more or less in sequence. My only slight regret is that I didn't get more of the 2 of them together but hey I won't see these delightful animals again at such close quarters for a very long time, so I have to be very satisfied with these images.

I'd welcome any suggestions about age/ sex but I'm guessing that these are relatively young cubs exploring. They're sighted often on both the Pocklington Canal and the River Derwent both of which this beck connects to in a roundabout sort of way, so maybe they've come upstream looking for potential breeding grounds?

Been down several times since in the hope of catching them again and every time the beck is 'utterly Otterless' and I tell myself  'wow you were lucky there Timbo!' .... right time, right place and I don't expect to see them again any time soon!

Want some great places to see Otters? Locally Tophill Low, Wheldrake Ings, Staveley and the aforementioned Pocklington Canal are all worth watching as well as these national sites - Great places to see Otters

Great Givendale morning walk, Fieldfares coming in and yet more Fungi

One of the more diverse and scenery rich areas of the Yorkshire Wolds, Great Givendale is now on my doorstep and with the weather set fine (for the morning at least) and some favourable winds for perhaps a bit of long overdue winter thrush passage I decided this morning to heave myself out at the crack of dawn for a tramp around.

Great Givendale

Ridings Beck

Some fantastic late Autumn colours on show as you can clearly see; less than clear were the numerous natural springs that feed the becks around here which in turn feed into the Rivers Foss and Ouse. I was hoping to locate at least one of these 'bubbling puddles' I'd pinpointed on the map but to no avail so had to make do with a couple of pics of the Ridings Beck, one of the many chalk streams that are such a unique a unique feature of this landscape.



Ridings Beck

A glorious morning and a lovely walk, not much happening in the bird world apart from some pleasing numbers of Skylarks in the air, the odd finch flock and a few Common Buzzards,but these days I'm not just a birdwatcher and my Autumn fascination for fungi continues and as I scanned these chalky slopes these big beauties almost dazzled me ..... Common Puffballs

Common Puffballs

Slippery Jack

and these are common too but freshly emerged Slippery Jacks looks as good as anything pushing up from the earth

Slippery Jack

 Finally, as the skies darkened and I was retracing my steps back to the car and looking forward to coffee and a bite to eat I caught something out of the corner of my eye, looked up and bingo - a flock of about 70 birds heading in from the Northeast and my biggest flock of Fieldfares this Autumn

Fieldfares coming in over the Yorkshire Wolds

...... mission accomplished!