Well so far this Spring has been pretty good – the weather has been very dry with little or no rain: despite the fact we have had a lot of sunny days it has been really cold; with night time temperatures dropping to minus figures. In fact on the 11th April it snowed heavily in the morning – by 2pm in the afternoon there wasn’t a sign of snow, as it had all melted!!Easter week was the coldest I have known for at least 15 years. Unfortunately due to Covid restrictions holidays for the masses have been put on hold and although we wanted to escape the chilly Baltic conditions we were not allowed to travel. Luckily the National Lockdown was eased on March 29th ; so this meant in April we were allowed out to play courtesy of Uncle Boris !!! There really is a sense of hope now that the restrictions have been lifted and the vaccination program is going smoothly, we will find a way out of this mess and get back to a sense of normality once again. Summer migrant visitors have been coming in thick and fast during the last 3 weeks: with Swallow and Blackcap seen close to the garden centre at Castle Howard on 7th April. A House Martin was seen at Troutsdale on Monday 12th April and on Tuesday 13th April two iconic species of the uplands were seen ; Wheatear and Ring Ouzel at Rosedale Bank Top. And on Weds 14th April at Hartoft Dale I saw and heard one of the most eagerly anticipated Spring visitors: a Williow Warbler. These little Spring birds have migrated all the way from Africa and to hear their cascading little phrases of song in my part of North Yorkshire is a real privilege.As you may well know, travel restrictions were imposed on people across the UK for nearly 3 months, however it was possible to visit Nature reserves once again outside your local area after the 29th of March and a recent visit to Swillington Ings was a very welcome change ‘Local Patch’ watching.What a brilliant day it was too – with some great sunny weather and some nice Spring migrants such as Reed and Sedge warblers to enjoy. However top marks must go to the local Grebes ; Great Crested and Black Necked. Both stunning visitors to the reserve. The Blacknecked Grebes were showing in good numbers and a nice party of six did a very nice synchronised swim-past which sent me hurriedly to get my camera – and it wasn’t switched on; sheer panic ensued … but I needn’t have worried as the birds were with us for nearly 10 minutes diving and preening in front of their audience totally at ease – Brilliant is an under statement!!!!!!!!
As we toured the reserve we witnessed a Great Crested Grebe catch and try to swallow a very large Roach the unfortunate fish was despatched very quickly, however, swallowing the fish took a good 20 minutes!!! Eventually the grebe swallowed the fish whole, head first but it really was a struggle; the phrase ‘Biting off more than you can chew’ clearly came to mind!!!
To end our visit we were absolutely chuffed to bits when we very unexpectedly stumbled on a cracking year tick a male Bearded Tit !!!! It was feeding at the base of a small bush and as it turned its grey head and black moustachial stripes stood out really well; a cracking bird!!!
Well, as I said at the start of this post it has been a great Spring so far …. April is not quite finished yet, I wonder what more surprises are in store ….. I can’t wait!!!!!
