Waxwings are still showing in and around Pickering which is great to see!! On the 10th Nov. I had a drive round the local area and ended up just near Ryton bridge very close to Eden Camp – the open air Second World War museum near Malton. As a result of storm Babet and Ciaran there was lots of excessive floodwater in the fields and an artificial ‘lake’ had formed – there were lots of gulls and lapwings around the edges of the ‘lake’ but the best thing was up to 7 female Goosanders taking up a temporary home, strange no males though.
11th Nov: A really great walk around Castle Howard today. Birding was not brilliant… a few Common Buzzard, Nuthatch,Great,Blue and Long-tailed Tits in the woods. However, as I approached the small lake near the Atlas Fountain amidst the Gadwall, Mallards, Tufted Duck and Mute Swans were two female Red Crested Pochard !!! They were a real surprise and the first ones I’d seen in Ryedale – what a bonus!!
Another bonus were the Autumn colours they were stunning today in the bright autumn light .. What a great afternoon!!
16th Nov: It was great to get into the garden today – a dry day at last … but the idea of giving the grass a last trim before winter really sets in no chance. I have never seen the garden so wet. So it was all going well until heard the call …. Waxwings !! And there they were swirling over head … nearly a 100 !!! So tools down and off I went to see where the flock had landed. And within 5 minutes I had found them just up the road from where I lived!! They were attacking a Hawthorn bush en masse – brilliant to see!!! A few thousand frames later I headed back …. and on the way back another bonus some continental Blackbirds again feeding on another berry bush. It was great to get some close up frames of these foreign visitors. Now to get back to the garden……
21st Nov: On the local birdline it was reported recently that 3 species of Diver: Great Northern,Red Throated and best of all Black Throated had been seen in Scarborough Harbour over the weekend. But due to family commitments I couldn’t make it so keeping fingers crossed the Mrs and I had a drive over on Tuesday…. would they still be there???? So after dropping the Mrs off in Scarborough I headed off to the harbour. Upon arrival …. absolutely nothing. So then it was a methodical scan of all the open areas…. then the most welcome of statements that a birder can hear …. ‘Are you looking for the diver … its over there mate and off I dashed. With heart in mouth I scanned the channels between the boats ….. Yes!!! Blackthroated Diver !! Brilliant bird … never photographed these birds before … excellent!! Then the immature Great Northern Diver appeared !! Bonkers!! And after another 15 minutes the eclipse adult GND came into the harbour … what a bird. So it was nearly a full house. But no sign, eventually a Red Throated Diver was seen in South Bay distant but quite easy to pick out. So that morning I had seen all 3 species and photographed a new bird for my photo list. What a brilliant morning!!
25th Nov: This afternoon I had a drive down the low Marishes road between the turn off on the A170 and Yedingham and again the drive produced some great birding these were some of the highlights: with over 500+ Golden Plover, 1000+ Lapwing, single Redshank, 4 Dunlin, 100 Linnets, 50 chaffinch, 1 Barn Owl, 3 Kestrel, 2 Common Buzzard, lots of Fieldfare and perhaps best bird(s)of the afternoon were 6 Whooper Swans. Not a bad afternoon.
30th Nov: And to finish the month 28 Waxwings were reported just near the Sun Inn in Pickering today…. Brilliant to know that these birds have stayed with us for virtually the whole month. Looking forward to December … and maybe more Waxwings and further surprises!!
