"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." George Orwell
Well, unlike Mr Orwell, the birding clock starts somewhat earlier as the days lengthen, along with the list of possible birds to see - however, it was at times cold! As a consequence, matching expectation with reality is often a challenge!
Necessary gear for counting visible migration in cold windy weather
Last March and early April was notable for the movement of Whooper Swans. This year saw a downsize in the species bulk to Redwing, when the last day of March, as previously described, saw an impressive movement of 595 of these great birds. The first day of the month however, eclipsed this with a stunning movement of 1997 of these migrants, accompanied by 479 Fieldfare in a Force 3 NW wind, with snow showers. To put things in perspective, this is the fifth highest April count for the whole of the UK on the visible migration website Trektellen and 13th for the whole of Europe!
(see https://www.trektellen.nl/species/records/5/0/325/4/0?g=&l=&k=)
Mediterranean Gulls showed promise but didn’t deliver. Photo: Tim Jones
Also present on 1st was an Osprey, a species which was recorded on 13 days during the month, with two on both 15th and 24th. Most of the records refer to a pristine male which was seen on and off throughout the month. Also present intermittently during the month were Mediterranean Gulls, with a pair early in the month disappearing, only to be replaced by another pair, one of which was colour ringed. Early promise failed to lead to egg-laying, sadly.
Also on 1st, which was quite a good day, a nice male White Wagtail put in an appearance at Flasks Lake, with two groups of three White Wagtails later in the month, at Lingham Lake on 13th and in the big field on 15th.
If we thought the first day of the month was good, the 2nd was brilliant, when a juvenile White-Tailed Eagle, G547 (one of the Isle of Wight re-introduction scheme birds), made its way slowly through the recording area. The only negative was one of the birders ripping the trim off his car in the enthusiastic scramble to see the bird. Truly memorable.
White-Tailed Eagle agitating the locals. Photos: Mike Smithson (L) and Tim Jones (R)
Also on 2nd, the Golden Plover flock building up just outside the area made one of its excursions into our airspace; a magnificent 300 count (estimate of course). Overall, it was also a good month for moving Golden Plover, as they headed north to breeding grounds. A total of 791 north was a creditable tally and nearly 50% up on last year. A mention must also be made of Shoveler, with a count of 80 on 2nd.
The very next day, Fieldfare took the thrush plaudits, with 603 moving north. A Great White Egret was seen heading south over Thornborough village from Yorwaste mountain and moving Meadow Pipits started to ramp up, with 412 through during the morning. A Brambling flew past heading north on the same watch, whilst another was still present along the West Tanfield ridge.
Meadow Pipits continued to escalate. On 6th, the best vantage point was not manned in the face of a Force 7 plus gale. This proved to be ill-judged, as throughout Yorkshire, counts of thousands were recorded at several locations; even through the Reserve, which generally has lower numbers than the Vale of York, 826 birds were logged moving through. The next day, in slightly moderated Force 6 winds, numbers were much reduced. However, on 8th, 1830 moved through NW, a new record for us.
Also on 8th, a group of four Brambling, 39 Sand Martins and the first Hobby of the year moved through along West Tanfield Ridge. Later another Hobby put in an appearance over the Reedbed and Black-Tailed Godwits peaked at 39 on the main Reserve.
Snipe remained scarce during April - these were on a little pond near Thornborough village on 8th.
Twenty-three Whoopers Swans moved N on 9th, a much scarcer sight than in in April 2021. More spectacular was at least 1200 Pink-footed Geese, which, presumably disturbed from Carthorpe Mires, flew into the recording area airspace, with 420 peeling off and landing on the Reserve making quite a din. Plenty was also moving with 30 Swallows and the biggest counts of Golden Plover and Black-headed Gull for the month, with 471 and 2154 respectively moving north during the first half of the day.
On 10th Meadow Pipits continued to move, and four House Martins headed south down the Ure. However, the star bird was a Ruddy Shelduck with a group of Pink-footed Geese which came into the Reserve. This was almost certainly the long staying bird from Carthorpe Mires, just to the north of the area. Whilst regarded as ‘plastic’ (a birding term often used for species that may have just popped out an aviary), it was still a smart bird to see.
‘I identify as a Pink-Footed goose’ - the Ruddy Shelduck failing to blend in! Photo: Gary Harrer
After a few fallow days, there was more excitement on 13th, with 164 Sand Martins heading WNW plus another 137 in the area. The gem, however, was a Hawfinch flying WNW over Yorwaste mountain. The next day saw the first Yellow Wagtail and Common Sandpiper of the year and on 15th, the first Whitethroat and Reed Warbler. The latter was unusual as it pipped the first Sedge Warbler arrival by three days, a reversal of the standard chronological order.
Nationally, there was quite a northerly movement of Jays, mainly up the west side of the country. On 19th we scraped in on the act with a flock of four heading north and three in the area, two of the latter in ‘non-regular’ places. The last third of the month pootled along at a gentle pace, with the first Common and Arctic Terns and Garden Warbler all appearing. It was also nice to see five Pochard on Ladybridge Lake on 21st and a Greenshank on 22nd.
As well as regular sightings of Osprey mentioned earlier, Great White Egrets were seen on four dates, with at least two different individuals, one in breeding plumage, one not (black versus yellow bills, obvious in flight).
As the month trundled to the end, the box of delights was again opened, with a Spoonbill on the Reserve on 27th, sharing it with the four Barnacle Geese found the day before. The last day saw an observer slack-jawed and highly distracted from his lunch by a Rough-legged Buzzard flying through the area - another great ‘cherry’ to put on top of the April 2022 birding cake.
Spoonbill helping to see the month out with style. Photo: Val Normington via Twitter
Andrew Hanby on behalf of the Nosterfield Naturalists
4th May 2022