Pleasant morning at Wheldrake Ings @ldvnnr.bsky.social Lovely to see broods of 6 Shoveler and 8 Gadwall on the Pool. Also drake Wigeon,Teal on there and a surprise drake Pintail dropped onto the ings. Small flock of Lapwing landed, 14 in total, Snipe and Redshank. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Red-footed Falcon at Bubwith Ings again this morning. A lovely small falcon hunting up and down the Derwent. Park at Derwent Bridge cp and walk a mile up the N bank footpath, to the gate. NO access beyond this as NNR above here. @yorkbirding.bsky.social @ldvnnr.bsky.social

Delighted when this Temminks dropped in 0918hrs onto Kilnsea Wetlands @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social in front of the hide. Pleased also to see it feeding well on Bloodworms, as vid, to seemingly show a plentiful supply of wader food available.

Fabulous day @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social, pic of waders at Warren Gate, Bartails, Grey Plovers, Knot, Dunlin, Turnstone. Others around the area : Short-eared Owl, Spoonbills, beautiful M Marsh Harrier, Whimbrel, Osprey (yesterday) plentiful Yellow Wags and Whimbrel.

#Birds #Bahrain Environmental issues, a consequence of Trump's Gulf war, must now include early departure of 99% of wintering migrant wader species - after 700-plus disruptive intercept explosions, today's migrant wader count was zero, breeding tern count 1 pair Saunders's

Completed our 1st @bbs-birds.bsky.social visit at Seaton Ross today. An unusual 27 nr. Curlew noteworthy which I understand from my @yorkbirding.bsky.social colleagues may well be possibly Icelandic breeders en-route supported by us also recording 4 Whimbrel, a new species on the square. 43 species.

Fab weather over our 12 days. Ardnamurchan peninsula pic Ben Hiant - highest peak, with close up WTE's. Displaying Mergs at Castle Tiordan, Manxs' & 3 Gavia sp. Isle of Eigg pics Bay of Laig with backdrop of Rhum Cullins plus Finger of God. Confiding Twite. Isle of Muck, pic Gallanach Bay, White Wag

1st @bbs-birds.bsky.social completed today at Menethorpe. Notables 9 Oycs (4,3,2) in different transects, a Nuthatch calling in flight, 10 Sand Martins through direct on mig, 4 Kites(2,1,1) in diff transects & 110 Common Gulls in one flock SW along Derwent at 0820hrs. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

1 of the (4) Egrets tried to take an MA duckling, hovering over it. The female flew up successfully several times chest-bumping it away. 93 Godwits on Swantail. nfy Lesser Whitethroat 2 GBBB's briefly dropped in. Late Common Gulls moving N c.50 @ldvnnr.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Some ominous footage gathered a few days ago from one of the Willow Tit nests we are monitoring. GSW are the most common predator of WT nests in Britain, and having increased by ~400% since the late 60s, it's not a threat that's going away. Let's hope this one has amnesia... #UKBirding #Yikes

1/2 A great Spring morning @ldvnnr.bsky.social after the iced car & mist. Wheldrake full of warbler & wader song. nfr Whitethroat, the newly arrived Sand Martins (100s) are a sight to see feeding & resting, 6 Whoopers, Godwits in colour, Scaup, Marsh Harrier pr displaying. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Stamford Bridge Flash. 5 years since last record so in context a rare bird here - Pr Tufted Ducks. 2 pr Gadwall, 3 Teal and a new in drake Shoveler. CHL fairly quiet, 49 Tufted remain and a GWE. Hanging Grimston Wold, windy for songsters, no Redstart yet. A Yaffle calling. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Snow Bunting - Cairngorm, one of about 20 birds in the car park.

Didn't expect that one, or maybe I should have at this time of year, a F Common Scoter on the Derwent at SB Flash and a new patch record. CHL this morning, rained off but did see a GWE, now developing some aigrettes ready for courtship. A little storm damage above the weir. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Pleasant morning at Wheldrake Ings partly with @birdingdad.bsky.social 110 Pinks N at 0750, my FOY's Swallow & W Warbler, F Scaup (pic), Marsh Harrier pair, 20 Whoopers dropped in 0830, 6 Pochard and Water Rail squealing. @yorkbirding.bsky.social @ldvnnr.bsky.social

Stamford Bridge Flash. A v unusual aberrant Moorhen with a complete yellow bill drew my attention today. Also foy 3 Mandarin again for 2nd year gradually occupying this section of the Derwent. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

CHL. Great to see some migration in action. Common Scoter stopped off here, W to E and 6 Whoopers (1 juv) resting, en route N to Iceland. Common Redshank on the shoreline also, an unusual sighting here. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

SB Flash. Beautiful Spring morning. Saw Mutes and Teal pairs copulating in my short visit. Red Kite, from the poolside above Ellers Wood a rare sight here. 6 Herons came together above in mid-air, 3 of which landed here, drake Shoveler. 41 species @birdtrack.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Nice to see a drake Scoter on CHL this morning, stopped of on its overland migration. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Beautiful day and a grand round of Cotterdale. Ravens, Curlew and Peewits back for their season, dipped the Dipper.

Highlight from this morning a Med Gull at Feoffe Common, a good record for @yorkbirding.bsky.social recording area. Noticeable movement of Shoveler in last couple of days witth extraordinary numbers of 12 at Stamford Bridge Flash and 18 here at Feoffe, 2 small local patches. @birdtrack.bsky.social

2 tetrads surveyed today on our 4th and final @bbs-birds.bsky.social winter bird visits. Spring sprung at Seaton Ross with our earliest singing male CB, 3 skeins of PG totalling 310 early on all heading back NW and a yaffling G calling several times. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Slavonian Grebe showing well again this morning at Stamford Bridge Flash. up river from the village towards Buttercrambe on riverside path, first field that you come to. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

A new patch record at Feoffe Common this morning in the form of this solitary WF Goose resting and feeding on the grass margin. The Slavonian Grebe present for its 3rd day at Stamford Bridge Flash great to see also feeding well. 40 species here @birdtrack.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

CHL. A pair of the loved-up Herons. Display flight with elongated neck, female on nest in Bittern posture, bill pointing to the sky. Both in great plumage and presumed male with red beak. Pair Ravens in flight NE over Ray Wood. 46 species on @birdtrack.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Eyes popped out of my head this morning. Slavonian Grebe on Stamford Bridge Flash, just before mid-day. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Useful summary of my UK birding activities during 2025, from @birdtrack.bsky.social Different criteria but my top bird would be the CHL Bittern - not recorded here since 1877. Thanks to @pauldoherty.bsky.social for the research on this. Male RB Shrike @ Spurn was special too.

North Duffield Carrs - Geoff Smith hide. Rarely see 2 together - video. 3 Scaup distantly, 2 Ruff close. Yaffle flew across the valley, Kingfisher & Stonechat in front of the hide. Feoffee. 4 Shelduck, 125 Common Gulls & 1 LBB. @yorkbirding.bsky.social @ldvnnr.bsky.social

Castle Howard Lake. 5 Shags remain on site after the incredible mid-week 17nr influx, seemingly feeding well. Beautiful morning, 55 species on @birdtrack.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

CHL. Gulosus aristotelis. A truly amazing record for @yorkbirding.bsky.social area on this inland waterway of 17 multi-generational birds, found by @eborbirder.bsky.social late yesterday. 10 of which flew off SE over Ray Wood at 1155hrs. Brought in by Storm Chandra two days ago.

CHL, one of the herons back at its nest site today and managed to capture the neck stretch which forms part of its display. GC Grebe still here, 2 drake and 1 female Pochard, 31 Goldeneye and c.160 Tufted. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Castle Howard Lake. Podiceps christatus, once a regular breeder here until 2022, now quite scarce this being the first record here, this morning, since 4 records in first half of last year. 🤞 they resume breeding again here soon. @yorkbirding.bsky.social 49 species @birdtrack.bsky.social

CHL, a v high count of 229 Teal in the freeze this afternoon, a greyish f Pochard, an uncommon sight here. Witnessed a f Goosander trying to take a Dabchick, constantly dunking and pecking the poor thing over a prolonged period but amazingly it eventually escaped. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

1/1. Still a frozen wilderness at Wheldrake Ings this morning. Surprised an Otter on the boardwalk as I was approaching the Swantail hide. River level getting up to the brim. @ldvnnr.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

A great Bird Race with @yorkbirding.bsky.social colleagues, 9hrs in the field at Castle Howard Lake and a 5 mile round on the adjacent Estate. A respectable 76 species incl. WS, PG, HW, RN & CR. Lovely 20mins here at an off-path pond watching a male Kingfisher feeding & a Water Rail ice dancing.

Heard their call, in with the GLG's, as they flew into CHL this morning. Lovely to see a new record for me at this site of 7nr White-fronted Geese - a good start to the year. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Castle Howard Lake. Finished the year on 120sp. & 125 cuml. over 2 years watching. Undoubted highlight being the Bittern, seen in flight 04/09 and in open view feeding on 10/11. 1st record here since 1877 when one was recorded by shooting it! RT Gavia nice too on 17/11, a much wished for species.

40 sp. up river from Stamford Bridge @footit.bsky.social Lovely close view of a Chiff feeding in field/river margin. Early view of Raven pair mid-height flying down river, Goosander, 40+Siskin & a few Goldies on Alders, 5 Herons in a group feeding on Derwent, Pinks over. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Another NYE, another night of terror for millions of birds across the Netherlands (and around the world). Last year we published in @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social Frontiers 🧪 about the massive impact of fireworks on birds 🦅. Paper: doi.org/10.1002/fee.... Thread below 🧵👇

Castle Howard Lake. A still peaceful morning. A pair of Ravens quite high above the lake flew in direct flight heading W, prukking softly. Goldeneye up to 30nr. Re-counted 23 Goosanders on my way out plus saw 5 leave high S well before sunrise. 48sp. @birdtrack.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

North Duffield Ings Lovely to hear the Curlew singing first thing this morning, 3 birds present. 17 Redshank, 10+Ruff, a good count for Dec of 40 Blackwits, half a doz Dunlin in view, small flock of 35 Goldies and a GWE. @ldvnnr.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Part of the 58 flock of Golden Plover on Feoffee Common this morning. They're never seen here though on the weekend that we complete the GP survey in November each year! @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Castle Howard Lake. V high water, not many ducks. 10 MN, 14 SV, 25 GA, 6 WN, 27 T, 6 TU and 6 GD. No Goldeneye. A GWE here and at Oulston Res. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

The 30th Yorkshire Bird Race, this year, in support of Swifts conservation is taking place on 3rd or 4th January 2026. I and several other @yorkbirding.bsky.social colleagues are participating again in this full day event. Any donations would be most gratefully received. gofund.me/a41ab6152

A full day surveying 2 @btobirds.bsky.social Winter BS tetrads. Star bird was a Woodcock which flushed whilst walking the edge of this beet fodder crop field at Menethorpe. A pair of Egyptian Geese were new species for the patch at Seaton Ross. c.350 Pinks over here also. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Oulston-pic taken 30/11. My 1st sighting today of an Otter, swimming across the reservoir here. GWE, 6th record since beginning of Nov. 12 GD's. CHL. Sparce on numbers, maybe due to v high water level, a few Tufted, no Goldeneye, 12 Goosanders, dabblers thin on the ground. @yorkbirding.bsky.social

North Duffield Carrs. I was looking skyward to see what had disturbed the birds, then reynard appeared, this morning. Godwits, Ruff, Dunlin, Goldies and Redshank present although the incoming water is encroaching their feeding margins near the hides. @ldvnnr.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

26 Dunlin at North Duffield Carrs and 8 Ruff, some with remnants of their summer garb. 26 Dunlin later on from Thorganby platform were too much of a coincidence. @ldvnnr.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Great job by @ldvnnr.bsky.social team at NDC. 2 cuts made in front of GS hide (Water Rail & Kingfisher) plus opening up of western panorama. Incoming flood water pushing prey to margins so a lot of raptors feeding. Whoopers close in flying S, GWE, 9 Ruff, Dunlin, Goldies, Pinks S, Stonechats.

3 'Howardian' GW Egrets this morning, 2 at CHL and 1 here at Oulston R. 42 Goosanders pre-sunrise at the lake and 6 at the reservoir. Full lists on @birdtrack.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social