Daniel Martin
Well-known member
I know its not Yorks but have any of you news of the RL Buzz, Ferriby, Lincs over the past few days? thanks in advance
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Yorkshire Birding (73 Viewers)
- Thread starter Hotspur
- Start date
BeadsbyClareScott
Well-known member
Thanks Tom, that would be great... I love it there... I don`t have a decent shot of a Marsh Harrier yet.
Hotspur
James Spencer
I went for it on Friday - there was a guy about a mile from the layby on the furthest bit of fence seemingly looking at the bird a long way away so whilst time pressure put paid to me seeing it, it was probably there.
P.S if you are that guy reading this - you sir are a prat - why not watch from the layby? The bird has been coming back to the fence repeatedly so by wandering out for views you stopped me from seeing it and prevented it from returning to its favoured haunts.
Daniel Martin
Well-known member
Thanks James -BGuides has it as present on 24th.
And yes, field craft at its best - did the aforementioned gentleman have a camera? those I know who have seen it best have literally sat in the car!
John Bullfinch
John Bullfinch
Michael Clegg
I was just sorting some old files out and came across an old article from the Yorkshire Post from late 1994 by Mr Michael Clegg. I never met him but I know he is well respected, expecially given the yearly Bird Race done in his name to raise funds for local birding projects. I thought given 2010 is coming to a close it was appropriate to put this out there and also some of you may appreciate the article. Here it is in full. Best wishes to everyone for 2011.
THE NUMBERS GAME (by Michael Clegg)
When it gets to week 52 it is pretty obvious what kind of year you have had in terms of bird listing.
At the beginning of the year I expressed cautious optimism at the prospect of reaching 150 species and when it got to September and I was still steaming ahead, I thought I might make 200.
Well, I nearly did but, laid low by infections during the most amazing October for birds, it was not to be and, barring miracles in week 52, it looks as though I will settle for 186 as the grand total – not that I am grumbling by any means. It is streets ahead of my 1993 score when I crept from one crisis to another.
Playing the numbers game is not the be-all and end-all of birdwatching but it does have a certain piquancy when it comes to ticking off our check-list. Our trips to the coast in the early autumn were a wonderful boost when we plugged into the migration of Skuas.
One of the birds that must have had its most successful breeding season in Yorkshire this century was Black-Necked Grebe which turned up in the Derwent Valley in unprecedented numbers and we caught up with dispersing birds at Hornsea Mere.
Blacktoft Sands, which is the nearest thing we have to an East Anglian marsh, produced nesting Avocets and Marsh Harriers to join the Bearded Tits which are the regulars there. There was a time when those three species could not be expected this side of Norfolk.
My bird of prey list was pretty thin on the whole but included buzzards which bed in Nidderdale, Goshawk in the Washburn Valley and two sighting of Hobby on the doorstep.
Some birds are currently at very low population levels and I only saw 1 Grey Partridge and half a dozen Redlegs.
The female Golden Pheasant of suspicious antecedents which appeared outside our house a few weeks ago I have not included in my list so far – though I might be desperate enough to stretch the tally to 187.
Waders & gulls were pretty kind to me on the whole. Yellow-legged Gulls have only been regarded as a separate species from the herring gull in the last few years but there were two very convincing birds at Nosterfield in the summer.
But hang on a tick. I have forgotten to enter short-eared owl so perhaps 187 is a reality after all. Remember, I am a birdwatcher, not a mathematician.
We got all of the regular owls but the best was a barn owl flying along the A59 just west of Harrogate on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
We also got a full set of woodpeckers with a green in Upper Nidderdale near Scar House, lesser spotted in the little wood at Farnham and great spotted which kept turning up all over the place, including one show-off who insisted on hogging the peanuts while I was opening new hide facilities for the disabled at High Batts Nature Reserve near Ripon.
The rare warblers avoided me completely and also quite a few summer visitors which are patchy in their numbers. For example I only saw 1 spotted flycatcher but the turtle doves seemed a bit more widespread than they had been in 1993. We have not had a single tree sparrow in our garden since last winter and I saw only one corn bunting in this are although there were plenty over on the coast in September.
One thing which I do find encouraging is the way that linnets and greenfinches are suing set-aside fields and hopefully, the numbers of small finches wintering in these areas will continue to increase throughout and into next year.
I know that farmers do not like the untidy look of the fields that are not cropped, mowed and ploughed but for a good many birds, weed seeds make all the difference when it comes to survival.
Field Notes: Even my low level of scribblings have a role in allowing comparisons to be made between one year and the next and, who knows, they might even reveal significant changes.
For over 200 years birdwatchers have jotted down their encounters on a regular basis and it never fails to amaze me how a terse little notation in a notebook can give total recall of the day concerned – even years on – I can even often remember what I had for lunch.
It is time for last years notes to join those from the previous 40 or so in the cupboard but before they do, I must get Pat to count the list for the very last time.
P.S – It came out at 188. Roll on 1995.
I was just sorting some old files out and came across an old article from the Yorkshire Post from late 1994 by Mr Michael Clegg. I never met him but I know he is well respected, expecially given the yearly Bird Race done in his name to raise funds for local birding projects. I thought given 2010 is coming to a close it was appropriate to put this out there and also some of you may appreciate the article. Here it is in full. Best wishes to everyone for 2011.
THE NUMBERS GAME (by Michael Clegg)
When it gets to week 52 it is pretty obvious what kind of year you have had in terms of bird listing.
At the beginning of the year I expressed cautious optimism at the prospect of reaching 150 species and when it got to September and I was still steaming ahead, I thought I might make 200.
Well, I nearly did but, laid low by infections during the most amazing October for birds, it was not to be and, barring miracles in week 52, it looks as though I will settle for 186 as the grand total – not that I am grumbling by any means. It is streets ahead of my 1993 score when I crept from one crisis to another.
Playing the numbers game is not the be-all and end-all of birdwatching but it does have a certain piquancy when it comes to ticking off our check-list. Our trips to the coast in the early autumn were a wonderful boost when we plugged into the migration of Skuas.
One of the birds that must have had its most successful breeding season in Yorkshire this century was Black-Necked Grebe which turned up in the Derwent Valley in unprecedented numbers and we caught up with dispersing birds at Hornsea Mere.
Blacktoft Sands, which is the nearest thing we have to an East Anglian marsh, produced nesting Avocets and Marsh Harriers to join the Bearded Tits which are the regulars there. There was a time when those three species could not be expected this side of Norfolk.
My bird of prey list was pretty thin on the whole but included buzzards which bed in Nidderdale, Goshawk in the Washburn Valley and two sighting of Hobby on the doorstep.
Some birds are currently at very low population levels and I only saw 1 Grey Partridge and half a dozen Redlegs.
The female Golden Pheasant of suspicious antecedents which appeared outside our house a few weeks ago I have not included in my list so far – though I might be desperate enough to stretch the tally to 187.
Waders & gulls were pretty kind to me on the whole. Yellow-legged Gulls have only been regarded as a separate species from the herring gull in the last few years but there were two very convincing birds at Nosterfield in the summer.
But hang on a tick. I have forgotten to enter short-eared owl so perhaps 187 is a reality after all. Remember, I am a birdwatcher, not a mathematician.
We got all of the regular owls but the best was a barn owl flying along the A59 just west of Harrogate on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
We also got a full set of woodpeckers with a green in Upper Nidderdale near Scar House, lesser spotted in the little wood at Farnham and great spotted which kept turning up all over the place, including one show-off who insisted on hogging the peanuts while I was opening new hide facilities for the disabled at High Batts Nature Reserve near Ripon.
The rare warblers avoided me completely and also quite a few summer visitors which are patchy in their numbers. For example I only saw 1 spotted flycatcher but the turtle doves seemed a bit more widespread than they had been in 1993. We have not had a single tree sparrow in our garden since last winter and I saw only one corn bunting in this are although there were plenty over on the coast in September.
One thing which I do find encouraging is the way that linnets and greenfinches are suing set-aside fields and hopefully, the numbers of small finches wintering in these areas will continue to increase throughout and into next year.
I know that farmers do not like the untidy look of the fields that are not cropped, mowed and ploughed but for a good many birds, weed seeds make all the difference when it comes to survival.
Field Notes: Even my low level of scribblings have a role in allowing comparisons to be made between one year and the next and, who knows, they might even reveal significant changes.
For over 200 years birdwatchers have jotted down their encounters on a regular basis and it never fails to amaze me how a terse little notation in a notebook can give total recall of the day concerned – even years on – I can even often remember what I had for lunch.
It is time for last years notes to join those from the previous 40 or so in the cupboard but before they do, I must get Pat to count the list for the very last time.
P.S – It came out at 188. Roll on 1995.
John Bullfinch
John Bullfinch
And by the way - still a Drake R B Merganser on the River Calder by Calder Wetlands late this afternoon - with Goosanders by the large plastic orange 'thing' that stretches across the river! Think I may have also accidently flushed a Woodcock at the bottom end of Pugneys, just a glimpsing view of it flying away from me in fading light, I was on the bike so it was long gone before I could get the bins up Still a good flock of Redwings & Fieldfares along the river.
BirdFlower
Always more to learn
Had 3 Woodcock near home this am, & managed to get one in flight flying along a long brick building. The light was poor & the bird was flying pretty swiftly, so quite pleased with the results!
My files won't resize for me to attach them here, so I'm afraid you'll have to visit the blog if you wish to see them!
My files won't resize for me to attach them here, so I'm afraid you'll have to visit the blog if you wish to see them!
pete seaman
Well-known member
This so like Michael,I can almost hear him saying it as I read it,he was a great bloke .Some of the older ones among us may remember the T.V.series he did,I think it was for Yorkshire T.V.
The TV programme was 'Clegg's People' - I am of course way too young to have any knowledge of it other than what my great grandfather told me.
http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/170893
http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/170893
I have to say I've been surprised by the recent close photos on Birdguides. I'm not saying that the photographer has done anything wrong, I'm just surprised given that the lay-by seems the nearest legal viewpoint. I'd have thought the person you saw was on private land though.
o
Here's to lots of interesting birds in 2011. The current freezing weather is certainly bringing them in. Two waxwing, four fieldfare and a couple of brambling in the garden this morning. Keep on feeding!
Graeme
I have a regular Pied Wagtail feeding in the garden each day at the moment. In adjacent gardens/rough ground nearby, a very showy Waxwing, Brambling, loads of Fieldfare and Redwing, and several Red-legged Partridge.
Hi everybody, I've been reading the posts on here for a few months now. I have a question for anybody in the Beverley area, I'd like to know if there are any woodpeckers present within about a three mile walking distance of the town centre at the moment? I have no transport and can't go very far. I do pretty well randomly seeing birds in the area, I once saw a Kingfisher from a bus on Swinemoor Lane, and see Sparrowhawks buzzing around regularly and my fair share of Barn Owls. Never a woodpecker though! Any help gratefully received! Cheers!
Nick
Nick
BirdFlower
Always more to learn
Hi Nick,
There are several locations, but the most reliable site is Burton Bushes on Beverley Westwood - the little wood opposite the racecourse. They will be drumming pretty insistently from the middle of January, or earlier if the weather improves, so that would be a good time to catch up with them. Good luck!
BeadsbyClareScott
Well-known member
Went over to Lyn Dike @ Fairburn yesterday, LEO wasn`t showing, but I saw my first female Goosander, with a little help from my friends... light was rubbish, so couldn`t get any decent pics... oh, yeah and a male Bullfinch on the tree on the garden. Anyone know what their fave snack is? i`ve bought him sunflower hearts to coax him in...
James Thomas
Well-known member
Boring aren't they? 12 at the bottom of Church Lane in Birstall. Hoping for some brighter weather tomorrow.
Edit: Just checked, seems the whole of England covered in mist until Friday
, have to stick to sampling Port.Nice to see Bresnan playing a key part in retaining the ashes.
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BirdFlower
Always more to learn
In the wild Ash keys get them thro' the winter, but have been told they are partial to nyger seeds for those lucky enough to get them in their gardens, but those specially made narrow slits on nyger feeders won't be ideal for them!
Chris-Leeds
Well-known member
I've had a couple of flyover bullfinches for the garden. There is an ash tree, full of keys too and a nyger feeder. Only had goldfinches feeding on that though.
BeadsbyClareScott
Well-known member
Cheers Guys... might sprinkle some of the seed on the open feeders.
Chris... what`s a key? :h?:
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