Looking back over this last year – to say it has been strange is an under-statement !!! I think the main thing that stands out for me – leaving aside all the chaos and misery that this pandemic has caused not just on a regional basis but globally too, is how in many ways we have made deeper and I hope better connections with Nature and wildlife. While modern society was battling with the virus , wildlife was slowly casting a very comforting blanket all around us. People became more aware of birdsong, wild deer, foxes and badgers were appearing in our city centres on a regular basis, geese made their nests and laid their eggs in the concourses of busy commuter stations – and wild flower meadows begin to appear on roadside verges normally busy with commercial and private traffic. Perhaps one of the abiding memories for me during 2020, was appreciating and taking more notice of the nature available to watch in my own garden and birding on the local patch. Talking of my back garden, me and the Mrs. live in a suburban estate on the edge of a market town in North Yorkshire and amazingly I managed to see some 55 species of bird during the first ‘Lockdown’ that started in March, along with 11 species of Butterfly and 3 species of mammal. However, the wildlife highlight that stands out for must be the Black-browed Albatross that was seen off Bempton Cliffs in July. Talk about surreal – seeing this South Atlantic beauty flying with Gannets off the coast of East Yorkshire was totally bizarre yet at the same time totally exhilarating. Never did I expect to see a species of albatross so close to home. I thought maybe – just one day I might have a chance on a future trip to the opposite side of the world!!!! As I said earlier, ‘Local Patch’ watching has been amazing; to see how the local flora and fauna has adapted and transformed itself in response to the slow change of the seasons and the ever changing weather. It only seems yesterday, that I had very privileged views of a female Roe Deer with 2 fawns on a warm night back in August. Yesterday I was reminded of the fact that we were deep into winter, I was out on the carrs; lowland to the east of Pickering when nearly a 1000 Pinkfooted Geese flew over – the noise was amazing!!! My last photo for 2020 is a Wren- it always amazes me how how these little birds and many other small bird species such as; Goldcrests, Tits, Sparrows, Redpolls, Treecreepers, Finches and Buntings survive our cold winters. So if you can feed your garden birds in the winter it will and does make a difference to their survival into the Spring.
Can I wish everybody a very Prosperous and Healthy New Year. Hopefully we have seen the worse of this pandemic and soon we will be able to get on living our lives in a normal way.
Happy Birding for 2021; Kind regards Jon.
