By Nick Morgan

AS predicted, March saw a strong movement of Whooper Swans through the area as birds made the return journey to their Icelandic breeding grounds. The first seen were nine over Morton-on-Swale on the 7th and then there were widespread reports of birds with peak counts of 26 at Scorton, 16 at Cleasby, 28 over Crakehall, 34 at Newsham, 20 over Richmond and 74 at Nosterfield.

In Yorkshire as a whole, the best day was March 22 with very large numbers moving through the county, including 325 over Harewood House, more than 200 over Castleford and a magnificent herd of 244 on one West Yorkshire reservoir. On that date our local birdwatchers spotted "only" a flock of 51 over Bedale and 20 over Little Langton, so it may be that the main movement that day was to the west of our area.

March also saw the appearance of the first summer migrants with a Chiffchaff singing at Nosterfield on the 7th the earliest bird. There was then a noticeable influx of this little warbler from the 18th. The first Wheatear was at Morton-on-Swale on the 27th and a Sand Martin was seen near Brompton-on-Swale on the 18th but the cold conditions later in the month seemed to put others off and I received no further records by month's end. More surprising was a very early Swallow at Scruton from the 20th. This bird was seen around the sewage works in the village and was still present at the time of writing. Incidentally, sewage works may not be the most attractive sites to visit but they can be very good for birds, particularly in winter because of their tendency to hold higher numbers of insects.

One bird which seems to have made a real comeback in recent years is the Barn Owl, with many more sightings reported. When I wrote Birds of the Northallerton and Richmond Area, it had virtually disappeared as a breeding bird but now many farmers report them back on their land. Particularly accommodating birds were seen this month in Morton-on-Swale, where one was regularly seen hunting in broad daylight near the road bridge, and Ainderby Steeple, where a bird kept such regular hours that villagers could gather to watch it hunting the roadside verges.

Other sightings of note in March included a Water Pipit at Nosterfield, one of only a handful of local sightings, and a Garganey at Cleasby. A Mediterranean Gull was seen at Newsham but, for gull enthusiasts Lingham, was definitely the place to be with a great selection including Iceland, Glaucous, Caspian and up to three Mediterranean gulls spotted here.

Elsewhere, Waxwings were spotted in Richmond and Darlington town centre, White Wagtail and Red Kite at Morton-on-Swale, Water Rail in Ainderby Steeple and both Bean and Brent Geese on Carthorpe Mires. Short-eared Owls were reported from Northallerton and near Leyburn, Avocets had returned to their breeding sites at Newsham and Nosterfield and there was another good sprinkling of Little Egret sightings with birds at Morton-on-Swale, Ainderby Steeple, Danby Wiske, Great Langton, Dalton and Skeeby. It surely won’t be too long before this species nests in the area.

April is the peak month for spring migration and among the masses of common birds arriving in the area there is a better than even chance of discovering a rarer species. Perhaps an overshooting exotic from southern Europe or an American wader dropping in at one of the local waters. It’s also usually a very good month for birds of prey with annual sightings of species such as Osprey and Marsh Harrier.

As always if you are lucky enough to find an interesting bird I would love to hear from you at nickmlinden@gmail.com