APRIL was an intriguing month. Despite the sunny weather, migrants were relatively slow to arrive, and at the time of writing not all of the village swallows have yet arrived and I hadn’t received any reports of swifts by month end. What were surprisingly early were quail with birds heard near Hutton Magna and Mickleton on 23rd.

One of the most intriguing April sightings was a red grouse at Nosterfield, seen flying over the reedbed at Lingham. Red grouse are extremely rare away from their moorland habitat, but this sighting followed one in the unlikely setting of Flamborough Head on the Yorkshire Coast. A friend even saw what he thought were large numbers of red grouse flying high off the moor tops.

It’s interesting to speculate why these individuals should appear and might point to abnormally high densities leading to birds being driven off the moors?

Another significant sighting at Nosterfield was a stunning flock of around 50 kittiwakes.

This most maritime of gulls is only a rare visitor to the area and previous sightings have only involved one or two birds.

This group were picked up high over the reserve and would have been missed if it wasn’t for the fact the observer was scanning the sky with a telescope. They were drifting north-east and a quick telephone call allowed me to catch up with the birds as they circled over Romanby, presumably en route to the North Sea at Teesside. This is further evidence for the regular overland migration of seabirds. The fact they are rarely seen is simply because they are usually flying too high to be noticed, unless there is a fortuitous sighting or adverse weather conditions impel them to drop onto an inland water body.

The now anticipated passage of Icelandic black-tailed godwits was another feature of April. Individual flocks weren’t quite up to previous years with maximum of 75 at Nosterfield, 26 at Scorton and 25 at Newsham, but the total numbers were as impressive as ever with an estimated 300 passing through Nosterfield during April. Avocets continue their successful colonisation with double figure counts of this striking wader at both Nosterfield and Newsham ponds. Other wader sightings included 12 ruff, spotted redshank and two bar-tailed godwits at Nosterfield, four whimbrel and 41 oystercatcher at Newsham and green sandpiper and greenshank at Scorton.

May is the month that sets many birdwatchers pulses racing with a great selection of scarce birds recorded over the years.The latest Yorkshire Bird Report is now out. Copies priced £12 (plus £2 postage) can be purchased on the Yorkshire Naturalists Union website or by post from Jill Warwick, Sharow Grange, Sharow, Ripon, HG4 5BN, cheques payable to the YNU.