THE most intriguing find during September was the white pelican which dropped in briefly at Nosterfield on the 9th.

This amazing bird spent a couple of hours at the reserve before flying off north. What was presumably the same bird was seen in Scotland the following day. There have been a number of sightings of pelicans in northern Europe this summer with at least two birds seen in England. The Nosterfield bird may well have been the individual which spent some time in Sussex earlier in the year.

Although it's not impossible that a genuine wild pelican could turn up, it is still more likely that these birds were all escapees from captivity.

Another spectacular species which has been well-documented on its travels was the white stork seen near Darlington. There have been a number of local sightings of white stork in recent years but most of these have been put down to the free-flying birds from Harewood House.

However, this bird had been colour-ringed in Holland and was then seen and photographed in Nottinghamshire before turning up on the roof of a work colleague's house near Yarm. It spent a couple of days here before moving to Low Middleton where it entertained a good crowd of local birdwatchers.

September is often a good month for sightings of birds of prey as they disperse from breeding areas. On the 9th there were no less than eight species seen at Nosterfield that day. These included; as well as the usual kestrel and sparrowhawk, buzzard, hobby, merlin, peregrine, goshawk and marsh harrier.

Other raptor sightings of note included hobby at Ainderby Steeple, merlins at Thrintoft and Bolton on Swale, osprey at Nosterfield and both red kite and hen harrier near Over Silton.

Waders too were on the move. This certainly hasn't been a vintage September for wading birds but nevertheless there were some reasonable sightings including at Nosterfield four little stints, three curlew sandpipers, four turnstone, 18 ruff, up to ten greenshank and a wood sandpiper.

A wood sandpiper was also seen at Pepper Arden and Bolton on Swale attracted greenshank, black-tailed godwit and green sandpiper.

October is considered one of the best months for birdwatching with a higher than average chance of finding a rarer species. Any of the local reserves are obviously worth checking. But don't neglect your own back yard because some of the rarest species seen in this area have been found in birdwatchers' gardens. This almost certainly implies literally scores of rare birds have gone unnoticed in local gardens over the years.

Perhaps the best strategy is simply to sit in your deck-chair with binoculars and a large G&T and see what flies in! However, if you're feeling more energetic, how about trying the area around Sutton Bank?

This under-watched site has turned up some great birds over the years and I'm sure would repay more intensive investigation. There's some evidence that in westerly winds, birds of prey coast along the face of the escarpment while in southerly or south-easterly airflows, birds funnel up the Vale of Pickering and are forced around the high ground of the Hambleton Hills.

A circuit of the area around Roulston Scar on a misty October morning just might turn up some exotic Siberian gem.