More from North Duffield

Was working in some really nice places today, made Selby look posh! On the plus side I did/hear lots of warblers (Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff), the sites were also rammed with Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin and Swift which was cool - there must have been a massive arrival today.

On my way home I popped into Thorganby to check out the viewing platform. The water was about 3ft deeper than on my last visit a few days ago, the fence that the Black Tern was sat on was totally submerged in the water! A quick scan of the mass of water revealed very little really, 157 Tufted Duck, 4 Pochard, 30 Shelduck and a few other bits and pieces. There was plenty of Swallows flying around too.

A bit later I checked out North Duffield Carrs to see what was around. The Bar-tailed Godwit was still present, sat right out in front of the hide showing really well as at first it fed, and then it slept. A quick scan of the reserve resulted in an increase from 1 (yesterday) to 6 (today) Greenshank. There was also 10/11 Black-tailed Godwit but these were staying fairly distant. Whimbrel numbers seemed much reduced, though they could have just been in the longer grass, also the water levels of the floods seem to be going down too which is good. There was also a good number of hirundines present here too.

FINALLY! Got the Godwit!!!

I'd say Bar-tailed Godwit is considered a scarce passage migrant in the York recording area, with only a few records each year, but undoubtedly the Lower Derwent Valley (LDV) is the best place to catch up with one.  Yesterday I mentioned that Tim had found a Bar-tailed Godwit at my local patch, North Duffield Carrs but by the time I'd got back from the office there was no sign of it in the increasing gloom. Last Thursday I mentioned that I thought I'd had a distant Bar-tailed Godwit at the back of the reserve but couldn't confirm it before it was flushed  by a Sparrowhawk while I was manoeuvring myself to get closer, only for one to be seen later in the same day further up the valley! Finally, last March I missed one at Thorganby too, again I was stuck in the office and missed it on my way home! 

However, as you may have guessed by my blog title, today I caught up with one! I got a call while I was having my breakfast from the old man of the north alerting me that it was in front of the hide. Five minutes later I was sat in the hide enjoying superb views as it fed in the company of several Whimbrel (more on them later).  I managed a couple of record shots on my phone (below).

Bar-tailed Godwit (Phone-scoped) 

 Bar-tailed Godwit (Phone-scoped) 

 Bar-tailed Godwit (Phone-scoped) 

Bar-tailed Godwit (Phone-scoped)  

Bar-tailed Godwit with a Redshank for company (Phone-scoped) 

Other birds recorded at this time included about 6 Whimbrel, 1 Greenshank, 2 Oystercatcher, several Redshank and 10 Black-tailed Godwit. Several Sedge Warblers were still singing away, however new in were a couple of very vocal Lesser Whitethroats.  Many Swallows were about, along with several Sand Martin, House Martin and a couple of Swift.

I popped back in this evening and all were still present, with Whimbrel up to at least 18 bird with a couple of Snipe noted.  I also had 165 Teal which is a fairly decent count for this time of year (I'd guess?), 6 or 7 Pochard flew quickly north through the valley and a pair of Pintail were again present on the water.

Two of the Whimbrel I saw were very interesting as they were colour-ringed. Will post up details on their life histories as soon as I get hold of them - hopefully tomorrow.

Bar-tailed Godwit in the LDV

Unfortunately I missed it (AGAIN!) Tim came down to North Duffield this lunch time and while the rest of us were busy at work, he promptly found a winter plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit, a fairly decent York area bird. A bit frustrating as I didn't have time to check out the reserve this morning before heading into the office!

A quick look this evening in the drizzle and poor visibility failed to connect with it but the Whimbrel were fairly distant, so there may be a (small) glimmer of hope for tomorrow...? I did have about 15 Whimbrel, 1 Greenshank and 10/11 Black-tailed Godwit. A pair of Pintail looked impressive in the gloom and a couple of Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff were all pretty vocal but not very showy.

Little Gull & Black Tern: York

Had  a few decent local birds again today and a few nice year ticks too.

Highlights (more decent local year birds for my non-year-list-year-list):

Black Tern - Cracking adult bird found by Russ this morning hung around for most of the day, showing really well on the floods at Thorganby, again I managed a couple of record shots on my phone.

Black Tern (Phone-scoped)

 Black Tern (Phone-scoped)

Little Gull - 1st summer bird I found at Bubwith Ings this morning. The bird dropped in briefly before clearing off with a group of Black-headed Gulls. I managed to get a couple of record shots on my phone below.

Little Gull (Phone-scoped) 

Little Gull (Phone-scoped) 

Little Gull (Phone-scoped)

Garganey - drake seen again.

Garganey (Phone-scoped)

Other Migrants included:

Cuckoo: 1 Thorganby

Swift (4): 1 over Bubwith Bridge and 3 over Thorganby

Greenshank: 1 (of 2 present) at Thorganby

Whimbrel: 15+ at Thorganby

Black-tailed Godwit: 11 at North Duffield and 94 at Thorganby

Lesser Whitethroat: 1 singing male North Duffield

Common Whitethroat: 2 singing males North Duffield

House Martin: 5/6 at Bubwith Bridge (+ my 2 birds in North Duffield that have been present for ages!)

Swallow: 50+ at Bubwith Bridge

Sand Martin: 2/3 Bubwith Bridge

Yellow Wagtail: 1 Bubwith Bridge

Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap: low numbers throughout valley

(Arctic Tern 3 seen by others in the north of the valley)

(Bar-tailed Godwit: I had a distant bird at North Duffield with the 11 Black-tailed Godwits that I thought could have been Bar-tailed Godwit however in the time it took me to get to a better location to view the bird it had been flushed by a Sparrowhawk and had disappeared. A Bar-tailed Godwit was seen flying through the north of the valley in the early evening...)

Best of the rest: Tawny Owl seen, Little Owl seen, Tufted Duck at Bubwith up to 70 birds with others at North Duffield and Thorganby, Shoveler, Gadwall, several Ruff, Lapwing, Curlew, Redshank, Snipe and the usual farmland passerines e.g. Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting etc.

It was a stormy day today with thunder etc. This was the view from Bubwith.

Storm passing Bubwith