14 of us had a good trip to Staveley and then on to Nosterfield on Sunday. In all, by the time I left, we had clocked up 69.5 species (the 0.5 being 2 White wagtails at Nosterfield).
Other good birds were:
Numerous singing Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and (unexpectedly a bit early) Willow warblers at Staveley.
Also at Staveley:
A few Swallows
Loads of Sand martins
1 Redwing
One possibly 2 Cetti’s warblers (a local said they had first appeared on the reserve last year)
A pair of willow tits excavating a nest (photographed from safe distance by Tom).

We missed out on several waders reported from Nosterfield earlier in the day, but managed to find:
Slavonian grebe coming into breeding plumage
A lone Greenland whitefront with the Greylags
A Little owl in the ‘usual’ tree.

JHL

Thanks for a great day out to John.

We added Little Egret, Little Grebe, a lone Whooper Swan and one Dunlin in full breeding plumage (very smart)a few more Redshank and three Ringed Plovers at Nosterfield LNR.

KJC

Ten YOC members made the trip to the peoples republic of south yorkshire today, meeting up in the Broomhill Flash car park.

We were greeting by good views of the long staying Hawfinch, while on the Flash were a few ducks including Pochard and Goldeneye.

Next was a short trip down the road to Wombwell Ings where we joined a small crowd and were eventually treated to views of the Yellow-browed Warbler and Firecrest. Both cracking birds and only a few meters apart. On the Ings themselves were Whooper Swan and Little Egret.

Med Gull at Old Moor © Duncan Bye 2018

Med Gull at Old Moor © Duncan Bye 2018

Then it was onto Old Moor where we had close views of a displaying male Bearded Tit with another heard calling in different patch of reeds. On the mere were 2 adult summer plumaged Mediterranean Gulls one of which was showing the Black-headed Gulls who was boss. There were also several Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A few of us also briefly heard a Bittern boom.

Among the ducks were 3 Goosander and a pair of Pintail, while waders included several Oystercatcher, Redshank, Snipe and 2 Green Sandpiper.

Some of the group then visited Adwick Washlands after dinner where they saw, White-fronted Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Brambling and Ringed Plover.

A really enjoyable day out especially for me returning to some of my old South Yorkshire stomping grounds.

Regards
Duncan

On Sunday 11th Feb, ten of us met a Bank Island for a trip around the LDV. Highlights were:

Bank Island
3 Little Egret
8 Barnacle Geese

Wheldrake Ings
1 immature Peregrine
27 Curlew
1 Marsh Tit along the lane to the car park
2 Willow Tit
1 Nuthatch

Thorganby viewing platform
1 Little Owl

North Duffield Carrs
13 Whooper Swan including a rung bird Yellow G57 (Craig is this one of yours?)
7 Ruff
80 Pintail

Aughton Ings
1 male Stonechat
130 Pochard
64 Whooper Swan

Ellerton
400 Golden Plover
40 Dunlin

per Duncan Bye

This year, we again had five teams covering the York recording area on 7th January.

Paul Doherty summarised the day: “An excellent day’s birding for all the teams yesterday and by my count there were 102 species seen in the York area. 

A bit of a triple whammy with some great birding, lots of records for the club report (please use the spreadsheet) and money raised for conservation – this year’s proceeds will go towards providing a Sand Martin bank at Kilnsea Wetlands. There will be a collection after our February indoor meeting and my thanks to those who have already contributed generously.

Once again congratulations to all the team members and many thanks for taking part.”

Here are the reports from the teams, in species count order:

Nevermind the Woodcocks
A fantastic day to be out birding round the York area. We were the same Woodcocks team as last year; Emanuela Buizza, Paul Brook, Richard Baines and me [Jono Leadley]. We scored 94 [actually 96 on a recount and one more than last year].

Highlights:
Cettis Warbler at Castle Howard was a big surprise, found on call but showed briefly.
Hawfinches – 72+ at the Arboretum
Marsh Harrier, NDC
Peregrine Bank Island
Green Sandpiper 3 at Rufforth
Brambling, 3 Elvington (thx Adam!)
Red Kite, 2 LDV
etc.

Missed birds: Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, Willow Tit, Jack Snipe, Redshank, Scarce gulls, American Wigeon

York Upstarts (well, they were called that last year!)
Firstly congratulations to all other teams taking part in the bird race , particularly to the ‘woodcocks’ in acheiving the highest total !
This year our team consisted of Paz Fletcher, Georgia Locock, Ollie Metcalf and myself [Chris Gomersall], last year’s incredible total of 105 was always going to be difficult to match, and the water levels in the LDV making it even tougher for all the teams, the high totals achieved are testament to the perseverance and skill of everyone taking part, well done!

Ahem! (Sorry team members) after a recount, we finished on a respectable 93 (forgot to add curlew, I could well be off counting duties next year!), though as with other teams, there have been some favourite ‘bird race nemeses’ for us!
Grey wagtail
Grey partridge
Grey heron
Great spotted woodpecker
Redshank
Marsh harrier
All missed!

We did have some highlights though!
Church bridge: Kingfisher, Corn buntings, Water rail, Little grebe, Woodcock
Thornton: Peregrine, Hawfinch, Golden plover
Refuge: Red kite, little egret, Curlew
Allerthorpe: Crossbill, Green woodpecker
Castle Howard: Nuthatch, Willow tit, more Hawfinch, ,Mandarin
Hes east: Jack snipe, stonechat
Rufforth: Green sandpiper, Lesser black backed gull

Once again well done everybody!

Chairman’s Pick
Peter Watson, Duncan Bye, Masha Sitnikova and Neil Hildreth as well as myself [Rob Chapman].

We started at Allerthorpe Common about 6.30, then on to Field Lane, Thornton and Church Bridge and then East Cottingwith. After that Castle Howard for the Hawfinches and back to the LDV via Hes East, finishing at Ellerton. Our total was 89 which was up on last year though we still missed some that we might have hoped for like Little Owl and Peregrine.

Highlights were the Hawfinches, Willow Tit at Allerthorpe and near Church Bridge, two Marsh Harriers at the Refuge, Woodcock at Allerthorpe Common and Red Kite.

York SE53 team
Paul Doherty, Jonathan Begbie, Jim Reid and Alan Swain covered SE53 (the 10km square in the extreme southwest of the club area) and we saw 83 species. An excellent total for a 10km square and helped by some favourable flooding along the Lower Wharfe and a wonderfully crisp, sunny day. We started at Bishop Wood in the dark and got 5 Tawny Owls without really trying, then on to Milford Common, before going along the Lower Wharfe to Kirkby Wharfe, then back to Milford Common.

The highlights were:

Milford Common: Little Egret 3; Barn Owl 3; Peregrine 1; Jack Snipe 4

Lower Wharfe: Whooper Swan 3; PF Goose 62 (56 flew N, 6 with the local geese); Shelduck 2; Pintail 21; Shoveler 15; Gadwall 12; Tufted Duck 10; Goldeneye 2; Goosander 23; Red Kite 2; Peregrine 1

Kirkby Wharfe: Nuthatch 3; Hawfinch 1

WYFLERS
Same team as last year, Helen Searstone, Sue Ball, Keith Reynolds and me [Liz Reynolds], we had a species count of 69 birds, an increase of 2 on last year’s total. A great day out, we focused on the Derwent Valley and then Castle Howard. No time for anywhere else, again!

Highlights included the sight of flocks of Lapwing in flight at Field Lane and again @ Thorganby giving great displays in brilliant sunshine. Always a treat, the displaying male Goldeneyes @ Castle Howard were great to see. We noted several groups of 10+, 15+ Pied Wagtails in fields and around the frozen water margins @ Aughton and Thorganby.

With most people being put off by the weather forecast, only three of us (Neil and Noel were the other two) who headed to Scarborough for the day on Sunday. There were a few snow flurries off the sea and it was generally a cold day but not as bad as feared. However, it was slow birding with little on the sea though we did have a Gannet and Common Scoter. We picked up the Purple Sandpipers at the high tide roost and visited Holbeck car park where there were at least eight Mediterranean Gulls. After a visit to Scalby Mills as the rocks were beginning to be exposed with the tide ebbing, we finished off at the Mere with a few woodland species and some Goosanders.

Rob Chapman

Despite the cold wind, nine members left York for North Lincolnshire on Sunday 12th. Our first stop was overlooking Read’s Island where the numerous waders featured active flocks of Golden Plover and Dunlin with some Bar-tailed Godwit. Several skeins of Pink-footed geese flew over, some fairly low, and in the distance we could see what must have been thousands of them over the Wolds. A couple of Whooper Swans passed by and a Marsh Harrier was hunting over the island.

We then moved on to Alkborough Flats where the wind kept many passerines quiet, though a pair of Stonechats were sitting on wires. A Water Rail briefly showed itself but the highlights were the waders: two Little Stints, a Spotted Redshank, several Black-tailed Godwits in addition to the commoner Dunlin and Redshank on the pools. Hundreds of Lapwings and Golden Plover settled in the fields and then were disturbed by Marsh Harriers giving us a spectacular show. We were also treated to a Woodcock flying low past us. Before dusk and as the rain moved in, we moved on to Far Ings where a Slavonian Grebe was a fine bird to end the day.

Rob Chapman