Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis

Local status: Rare passage migrant and winter visitor

A fairly common passage migrant and winter visitor to the Yorkshire coast and most records from the York area have been during the November passage period. Some of these records refer to fly-overs, including the flock of ten which flew southwest over Askham Bog in 1976. Remarkably, the Askham Bog flock is not the largest to have been recorded, with a flock of fifteen in fields at Willitoft two years previously. Perhaps the most bizarre record is of an adult male feeding with Starlings, Sturnus vulgaris in March 2003 at Huby

Records:
2004: Thorganby, 7th November. Two.
2003: Huby, 8th to 9th March.
1996: Wheldrake Ings, 8th November. Two.
1994: North Duffield Carrs, 7th January.
1993: Riccall, 17th November.
1993: Cliffe Bend, 6th November.
1991: Heslington, 11th November. Two.
1989: Wheldrake Ings, 4th November.
1987: Wheldrake Ings, 22nd November. Three.
1985: Lower Derwent Valley, 5th February. Three.
1984: Moor Farm, Rawcliffe, 25th November. Four.
1984: Wharfe Ings, Cawood, 12th February.
1984: Ellerton Tip, 24th January. Two.
1976: Askham Bog, 28th December. Ten.
1974: Wheldrake Ings, 10th November.
1974: Willitoft, 30th October. 15. (Published as 17th October in YNU).
1971: North Duffield, no date.
1970: Hovingham, 4th February. Three.
1969: Northern part of the recording area, 25th November.

Unsubstantiated Records:
2011: Whitwell Grange, 8th to 9th November. (BirdTrack).