Jan 1st: Happy New Year folks …. and if you visit my Blog on a regular basis many thanks for visiting and your support … much appreciated. And again, if you want to send any comments please email at jnhardacre@btinternet.com any feedback is most welcome. Well another year and the listing starts again. Did very poorly in the UK last year with just under 150 …. However, I was very lucky and managed a few trips away which boosted the overall birds seen topped out at just under 300….To think that some folk in the UK record that number….. that is Bonkers ….. I bet their fuel bill is something else …. Let alone tyres !! First bird of 2024 was a Blackbird …. welcome change from either a Starling or House Sparrow. Had a great afternoon out on New Years Day went down to Low Marishes and had a nice look round – still a lot of flooded fields down there attracting a lot of waders such as Lapwing and Golden Plover, also there are still lots of geese – especially Pinkfoot; at the end of the afternoon 26 new birds had been seen – the highlight for the day been Grey Partridge … first ones I’ve photographed !!!
Jan 2nd: Recently heard that there was a local Hen Harrier … which is pretty good for our area and also a Rough Legged Buzzard too!!! I’m not giving any site details for security reasons i.e. unfortunately with the persecution that birds of prey get in our area due to illegal shooting the less specific information the better. Anyway it was a really dire day … typical North Yorkshire clag and rain!! But you know what they say … every cloud has a harrier – sorry silver lining. Gave it nearly 2 hours in the damp cold… then from no where ….. Female Hen Harrier appears not one but chuffin’ 2 YESSSSSS!!! Brief views but none-the-less Harriers!!! First ones I have seen in North Yorkshire uplands for at least 20 years .. It didn’t matter that I was damp, freezing cold and I had frostbite in my toes …. this was brilliant news …. A real red letter for the Local Patch … !!! What a start to the year!!
5th Jan: On a return trip, no sign of the Harriers … but there was a Barn Owl out hunting which was very nice to see and on the way home another bird was seen perched serenely on a gate post … but the light was too dark for a reasonable picture.
6th Jan: Myself and my Mrs visited the the East coast ie Whitby and Scarborough. Whitby in my humble opinion is best avoided in the summer months … no where to park and you get trampled in the rush!! Always best visited in the winter months!!! A great stomp out to the pier and some nice year ticks in the form of some ridiculously tame Turnstones … and some stunning Purple Sandpipers that were a little too far for a good photo. We parked up on Marine Drive, which was lucky as there were some Redshank perched up on the concrete groynes and I managed to get a few shots of these very obliging waders!
We then walked down to Scarborough harbour. I had heard that the juvenile Great Northern Diver was still in residence and there was also a male Red Breasted Merganser ….a really beauty and a bird I hadn’t seen for a number of years.The Diver was found quite easily and it was actively hunting flat fish … brilliant to watch, as it dispatched a number of these fish and that beak was been used to murderous effect!!
The merganser was eventually found and with that punk hairstyle quite a fine bird!!
As we returned to the car on Marine Drive, a familiar silhouette caught my eye: Fulmars!! There were about 5 birds wheeling around the cliffs.What a great end to a great afternoon’s birding!!
7th Jan: First visit of the year to Castle Howard … what a brilliant place for a winter walk. Nuthatches were calling really well in the car park. Had a walk down to the small lake just below the Atlas fountain and there were still about 15 Goosander feeding in the lake which were great to see… however trying to get the eye of a male Goosander in the poor light was a losing battle!! Still we did manage some flight shots and the female Red Crested Pochard was still present along with some very smart male Gadwall. Sadly the main lake on the estate was very quiet with just a few Mute Swans with their ever growing cygnets from last year.
