Birdwatch
| NORTH YORKSHIRE |  | | | CLEVELAND | | | | COUNTY DURHAM | |
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White Stork was a genuine find
APRIL proved to be a distinctly
cool and wet
month and not surprisingly
this impacted on
the arrival of summer breeders.
The earliest Swallows were
seen at Streetlam in the first week
but they remained relatively
scarce until almost the month
end. Both House Martin and Yellow
Wagtail were first reported on
10th but again there were few
other sightings until the last week
of April. The milder weather towards
the end of the month then
seemed to accelerate things with
an early Swift at Morton-on-
Swale on 26th, A Redstart in my
garden on the 22nd, Whitethroat
at Ainderby Steeple on 24th and a
report of an exceptionally early
Nightjar seen and heard in Over
Silton forest on the 23rd. This was
the earliest Nightjar reported in
the whole of the UK. In contrast I
hadn't received any reports of
Cuckoo by the month end.
A feature of April in recent
years has been a strong passage
of Black-tailed Godwits and 2008
was no exception with a fine flock
of 44 birds at Nosterfield. Up to a
dozen birds were reported at
three other waters.
These were Icelandic breeding
birds and were a very striking
sight in their brick-red breeding
plumage. These birds arrived in
the heavy rain of the 27th and the
conditions on that day brought
an excellent selection of species
to Nosterfield including two Garganey,
four Black Terns, seven
Whimbrel, Turnstone, Sanderling,
40 Dunlin and two Grey
Plovers.
Other April sightings in the
Nosterfield area included
Goshawk, Water Rail, Greenland
Wheatear, 12 White Wagtails and,
pick of the bunch, two Avocets.
This former rarity is now a
scarce but annual visitor to the
area and there must be a reasonable
chance of the species breeding
in the near future. What were
possibly the same birds were also
reported from Newsham ponds.
One of the most intriguing reports
was of a small unidentified
warbler seen in a Northallerton
garden. From the description it
sounded like a Pallas's Warbler, a
rare Siberian species never before
recorded in the area.
There has been an unprecedented
number of Pallas's Warblers
in England this winter so it's
not beyond possibility that it was
this species. However with no further
evidence it will have to join
the long list of ornithological
might-have-beens. This is a good
reminder that if you do come
across an unusual species it's always
worth trying to take a picture,
even a poor photo will often
show enough to confirm identification.
Other sightings of note in April
included a pair of Hen Harriers
just north of Northallerton and
another bird passing over the Siltons,
at Bolton-on-Swale there
was a Sandwich Tern and a Blueheaded
Wagtail was found
amongst a flock of 30 Yellows.
Nearby, Catterick Racecourse
attracted a White Stork. Local
sightings of storks are always
clouded by the wide-ranging
birds from the collection at Harewood
House but this bird appeared
at the time of a small influx
of the species to northern
England so has better credentials
than most for being a genuine
wild bird.
2:41pm Friday 9th May 2008
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