The Swifts are back...THE SWIFTS ARE BACK!!!

Yep, the Swifts are back! It is always such a joy to see their scimitar forms arcing across the sky. Yesterday, I counted six high over North Duffield Carrs, cruising around catching insects high over the wet meadows. The weather has been fine and is warming up next week, so I expect many more to pour in from the south. Hopefully, our birds may show up at home. 

North Duff was relatively quiet apart from the Swifts, a single Whimbrel east, 4 Ruff, with Lesser Whitethroat new for the year and still lots of Teal and Wigeon around, despite dwindling water levels. On to Wheldrake, where a Hobby was the pick of the bunch, besides my first Garden Warbler of the year, Cuckoo and three or four Reed Warblers in the reedbed.

 Garganey have been really thin on the ground this spring. There has been a solitary male at Wheldake, showing off and on, flying about looking for a mate. I wonder if rain in Spain has held many of our birds back in the Med? Time will tell. 

 Little Egrets are pouring back into the LDV, with many heading for their breeding colony. One over my house last week was a garden tick, as was a male Peregrine that rode the updraught in front of a large thunder cloud one evening. A couple of Great Egrets are still gracing the valley; maybe one day they will breed.

 This Peregrine got my scampering back indoors to get my bins and camera as it soared over the house.

Great Egret, Wheldrake.

This Grey Plover was a great find by Duncan Bye on the refuge at Wheldrake Ings on 4th April. Grey Plovers are scarce in the York area and don't often hang around, so this bird bucked the trend and hung around all day.

 

It has been a good spring for Teal, with good numbers still around at the time of typing. I counted 380+ at Wheldrake Ings the other night for instance. They really are smart little ducks.

Sedgey Spring

It is a great spring for Sedge Warblers, with lots singing everywhere, in reedbeds, willow thickets, brambly tangles and overgrown ditches. Perhaps a good breeding season last year, followed by good migration survival and clement wintering grounds south of the Sahara. I love their over-excited song, so different from the chuntering Reed Warbler, fizzing and whistling, before catapulting into the sky full of exuberance. This one paused to eye me with suspicion, as I watched it singing in a willow at Ripon City Wetlands.

 

Two gulls

Headed east with Vicky and Luna, but minus kids, for a walk along Flamborough Cliffs. Decompression, seaviews and the chance of a migrant bird or two was the order of the day. Sand Martins cruised for insects on the updraft at South Landing, whilst Whitethroats sang from swaying briars, in their typically jaunty fashion. With an easterly breeze, it felt promising, though the weather was perhaps a bit too nice.

A little further along, I noticed a white-winger flying past at eye-level- a Glaucous Gull - nice! This wasn't quite what I was expecting, but given how scarce they are in the York area these days, this was a treat. It flapped steadily east towards the lighthouse, so I put out the news and smiled contentedly. 

Not much else happened to interupt our walk, apart from a pair of Grey Partridges nervously sneaking through the Gorse Field. 

During a coffee at the Headland Cafe, I checked the birdnews and was astonished to see that an adult Bonaparte's Gull had been found at Hornsea Mere, only a hop, skip and a drive down the Holderness Coast. Vicky seemed happy to potter down there on our way home, so after completing our walk, off we went - twitch on! 20 minutes before we arrived, the news came that the Bonies had disappeared, but I assumed this meant it had just gone behind Swan Island or something, so we held firm and soon pulled into the car park at Kirkholme Point. As I jumped out of the car I realised that for some reason I had forgotten to bring my scope - doh! The gull was still missing, so I did my best to help the crowd by binning any gull close enough to ID. I wasn't helping much! Fortunately, I recognised the friendly faces of the Bempton Massive - Dave Aitken and Will Scott, and once the gull had been relocated, they both generously let me have boot-filling looks through their scopes. Thanks lads. 

I could see the bird through my bins - just about - on the edge of the Black-headed Gull-flock, loafing about in a diminutive way, with small black bill and upperparts a shade darker grey. A smart bird and an unexpected Yorkshire tick to boot. Only the fourth I have seen in the UK, this is a species I like to refamiliarise myself with as one day I might pull one out of the Wheldrake gull roost...here's hoping!

 I pointed and shot my bridge camera in the right direction and caught the Bonies here, front right.

Estonia - April 2025

 

 

I co-led a Wildlife Travel trip to Estonia the week before last, with Heleria Alles from NaTourEst. We had a really enjoyable week in the west of the country, half the time on the large island of Saaremaa and the rest in and around Matsalu National Park. The spring is much later in Estonia than the UK, with the countryside still looking very wintry, apart from woodland flowers, such as Liverleaf, Winter Aconites and Lesser Celandines. The weather was cold, with some snow showers and a lot of northerly wind, until the last couple of days when the wind went southerly and the temperatures rose considerably. Estonia is a fab place, pretty flat and very forested, though sadly a lot is being cut down for timber and wood pellets, many of which gets shipped to the UK to be burnt in power stations. 

 

White-fronted Geese, a patriotic White Stork, and two Cranes

Birding is very new in Estonia, with few birders around despite good infrastructure including many watchtowers, and a great bird list. Early spring is a good time to visit with lots of geese, mostly White-fronted and Barnacles passing through, togehter with the last few Tundra Beans. There are also a lot of Cranes on the move, with local breeders already on territory in the meadows, whilst overhead, flocks of upto 100 were seen passing over, particularly at the end of the week when the weather warmed up. No summer migrants were noted in the forests, but Caspian, Sandwich and Common Terns were seen along the coast and a few White Storks were back on their nests. Good numbers of wintering ducks were still present, including a fabulous drake Steller's Eider at Saaremaa Sadam, flanked by Coot (bit unexpected), with lots of Red-breasted Mergansers, Long-tailed Ducks, Scaup, Common and Velvet Scoters and Common Eider. 

 

On the fresh water, good numbers of Smew were found together with Pochard, Tufted Ducks, Goldeneye and Goosander, with smaller numbers of dabbling ducks. Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes were back on their territories in their breeding finery, some of which were in odd locations, such as a golf course pond and a town lake!

 

Top 2: Slavonian Grebe, bottom 2: Red-necked Grebes

With all these birds about, it was not surprising to see plenty of White-tailed Eagles; we saw 10-20 most days. We hoped to see Rough-legged Buzzards and were not disappointed; a fine juvenile flew past on Saaremaa, whilst back on the mainland we saw seven individuals within a small area whilst watching lekking Black Grouse. We also saw a couple of fine grey male Hen Harriers, a few Marsh Harriers, Kestrel, Goshawk and Sparrowhawks. 

 

Top: Adult male Rough-legged Buzzard; bottom: White-tailed Eagle by Charles Waters

We only found one Great Grey Shrike, near Haeska. We spent a good deal of time in various forests and found White-backed and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, plus Great and Lesser Spotted, whilst we only heard Black Woodpeckers. 

 

 White-backed Woodpecker

One of the most enjoyable sightings was of five female Capercaillies, which gave great views along the forest roads in the early morning sunshine and the best views I've had of this shy and declining species.  Other notable species included Crested and Willow Tits, Waxwings, Hawfinches, Black and Red-throated Divers, Wood and Green Sandpipers. 

 Fem Capercaillie. Taken by me with Charles Waters' camera

Evenings were for mammal spotting, and we chanced upon two pairs of Elk (Moose) during the trip. One pair was grazing in a roadside meadow whilst the other were seen in birch forest. We also saw Red and Roe Deer and Red Squirrel, but didn't find Lynx or Wolf, though we didn't really try for them. With warm sunshine on the last day, several butterflies appeared, including a fabulous Camberwell Beauty.

 

At the end of the trip, we found both the delightfully tiny Euro Pygmy Owl and the surprisingly large, ghostly Ural Owl from the same spot in the forest, providing an exhilarating end to our trip.

Pygmy Owl
 

High Flyer

Great to see a couple of Woodlarks this afternoon. Despite the overcast conditions and the chilly wind, one brave lad was high in the sky singing it's heart out. To my surprise, photos revealed that he was carrying some kind of insect whilst singing; not sure how he managed that whilst opening his beak! Whilst watching this bird, another started replying from the ground nearby. After a bit of scanning, I found it walking about in the heather, occasionally singing a bit. A really class bird and great that these breed in North Yorkshire these days. 

 

Remote Duck - South Georgia Pintail

We found South Georgia Pintails very easily at most sites where we landed. They were mostly found poking about in the tussock fields, often close to penguin colonies or napping Elephant Seals. They are now re-lumped with Yellow-billed Pintail, though still recognised as an endemic subspecies. They don't seem to fly very much, seeming just to waddle about. The other remarkable thing is that despite a rather cute appearance, they are quite happy tucking into a seal carcass shoulder to shoulder with Giant Petrels! 

South Georgia Pintail with a moulting Southern Elephant Seal, Right Whale Bay, South Georgia.

 

 

Surely, they don't eat side by side with these beasts!

 

Friday Feeling

A melancholy week, with my bro Lonz losing his older brother, Paul, unexpectedly. Very sad and a real shock. 

 ...

No work today, so headed out to Wheldrake Ings early doors. It was a cold start with a blustery westerly giving me instant regret for not bringing gloves. A brave Willow Warbler was singing in the car park, my first for the year and earliest ever, by a day. There had been a big clear out of ducks and also some disturbance as the refuge was completely bereft apart from a herd of 13 Whooper Swans. 28 Pinkfeet flew over, adding to the wintery feel. About 180 Black-tailed Godwits were roosting out from Swantail and concealed a couple of Dunlins and five Ruff among their ranks. They flushed a few times, looking stunning in the morning sunshine. 20 Sand Martins were hawking over the pool on my way back. No Garganey yet. 

 

Next up, the forest to meet Andy. It was good to see my old mate and we scored five Goshawks in my favoured spot. As usual, the territory-holding pair were showing off with another adult male with a couple of missing secondaries in his left wing, and a second calendar year male and female sparring with the first adult male. Really nice views in the sunshine. Not much else of note, save a few Crossbills, plenty of Chiffchaffs and c100 Fieldfares near Snainton. Popped into Castle Howard on the way home, which was very quiet, with six Sand Martins and a couple of Mandarins the only birds of note. 

When Six Became Eight: Antarctic Penguin Fest!

Penguins are fantastic and I've been a big fan since I was a kid, when I delivered an assembly on the family to my bored-looking fellow primary school pupils. Despite the early obsession, my 40+ years of birding had delivered me only three species out of a possible 18 (Galapagos, Humboldt and African). So, the prospect of seeing at least six new species was one of the reasons I was desperate to head to the Southern Ocean and Antartica. And I wasn't to be disappointed.

Here are the penguins in the order that we saw them:

1. Magellanic Penguin

Our first encounter was from the ship as we headed east out of the Beagle Channel. These little fellas were busily feeding in the calm waters particularly in the vicinity of at least one large colony we past. Later, we saw small numbers on New Island, Falklands, where they nested in burrows in a flat grassland. Recent news that several new colonies have been discovered in Chile give optimism to offset documented declines in this species.

 

2. Southern Rockhopper Penguin

A dream bird to see, Rockhoppers were every bit as charismatic as I'd hoped, bouncing up and down the rocky cliffs of New Island to feed fuzz-ball chicks waiting patiently at the top. The Rockhoppers nested amid giant Black-browed Albatrosses and Falklands Shags and they all seemed to be good neighbours. 

3. Gentoo Penguin

Often overlooked amid the more charismatic cousins, Gentoos are lovely birds, with gentle expressions, nesting in large open colonies on grassy plateaus. We saw a number of colonies on New Island, with other birds on South Georgia in among King and Chinstraps. Watching them literally fly out of the surf on to a white sand beach was fantastic.

 

 4. King Penguin

One of the best wildlife experiences of my life was standing amid 100,000 pairs of King Penguins at St Andrew's Bay, South Georgia. They are the most gorgeous of birds: inquisitive, charismatic and noisy, yet at times wistful and mystical.

5. Macaroni Penguin

We saw one lonely Mac among the Southern Rockhopper colony at New Island, but our best encounter was with colonies at South Georgia, including Hercules Bay and Gold Harbour. Macs havbe heavier, redder bills than the similar Rockhoppers, and finer, deeper-yellow crests. 

 

 

 

6. Chinstrap Penguin

I hadn't realised I'd see Chinnies on South Georgia, so this was a real bonus. Absolutely cracking penguins, and with a real affinity to ice! Our best encounters were at Gold Harbour, SG, and then on Penguin Island, South Shetlands. They feed their chicks on balls of krill, much of which ends up down their fronts or in a growing pink puddle on the colony floor! It is amazing how pristine they look on the way back to the colony and then how filthy they look as they head back to the ocean. 

 

7. Adelie Penguin

And if six species wasn't enough, we were then treated to the two Antarctic specialities. I hoped Adelie would be a possibility around the peninsula, but by no means guaranteed. However, good fortune - or perhaps a fantastic expedition leader - was on our side and we headed down the east side into the Weddell Sea, where Adelie Penguins were abundant. And I mean abundant! Tens of thousands fed on krill in vast rafts, with others peppering every decent sized iceflow. This didn't really prepare us for the collossal colony of 250,000 pairs at the finale of our trip on an island in the northern Weddell Sea. Absolutely incredible. 

8. Emperor Penguin

We always knew that if we got into the Weddell Sea there was a remote, but real chance of finding a wandering Emperor Penguin. From dawn at just before 4am, we were out on deck in subzero temperatures, checking every iceberg and iceflow we could see for large penguins. It took a while but late morning, Philip ran over to my side of the deck and asked me to check a large penguin which he was sure was an Emperor, but after hours of searching he wanted to be sure. And it was! A fantastic immature Emperor, standing forlornly on a large ice flow. The nearest colony is to the south on Snow Island (original name!) and most adults stay in the vicinity, but non-breeding youngsters wander about in the Weddell. The ship looped round and pulled up so our fellow passengers could put down their lattes and come out for a quick selfie with the world's largest penguin. This was amazing, a species I had never thought I'd ever see. To top it off, Becca then found another doing its best to hide among a gang of Adelies. Two Emperors! Unbelievable!

 

 

 

Top Emperor 1, bottom Emperor 2 with his cute Adelie friends

 We were somewhat happy to see the Emperors!

...

So our hoped-for six species became eight and my life list of penguins rose to 13. Only five more to go...