Page 9 - Out Birding August 2022

one of them being dive bombed by the Hobby is one I shall always treasure. Cuckoo was heard but not seen.
Mark Taylor
North Cave Wetlands and area 07/05/2022
Four Ps turned out for this annual event: two Pats, a Pam, and a Penny. The day stayed dry but it remained cool so we weren’t treated to the range of birdsong that one might expect in the first week of May. We walked the full circuit of the reserve and saw a good variety of birds both on the lakes and in the vegetation. Waders were: Avocet, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe, Redshank and Whimbrel which was a new bird for Pat D.
We had good sightings of some warblers even if they weren’t in full song: Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler; while a Reed Warbler bucked the trend by singing well in deep cover. All three hirundine were present and Swift was a year tick for us all.
We walked to a barn which is the favoured roost of a pair of Little Owl but they were not to be seen. The barn is dark and doesn’t make for easy viewing: Pam tried hard to convince us that a feathery lump in the rafters was our quarry but Penny ruled other- wise and pronounced it to be a Feral Pigeon which conveniently shifted its position to prove her right!
We had lunch on the viewing platform overlooking Main Lake with many duck in resplendent plumage then Pat left us. Pam, Penny and I continued on to Allerthorpe Common where we heard a Cuckoo and added Chiffchaff to our warbler list.
After this we drove to Wheldrake Ings. Here we were treated to an uncharacteristically showy Garden Warbler with several more singing along our path. Our raptor tally had been one, Common Buzzard, but here we added Sparrowhawk and Kestrel.
The final total for the day was 70 and it took us to a lovely variety of places. Pat
Frensham Little Pond 14/05/2022
Three of us started our walk in lovely sunshine. As we approached the pond and the warden’s house everything seemed very quiet to begin with. Our first birds were a pair of Reed Warbler showing well in the reeds at the edge of the water. Out on the pond there were Canada Geese and Great Crested Grebe with young, a Coot, a couple of Black-headed Gull and a pair of Common Tern nesting on one of the rafts. A Cormorant flew over.
Making our way around the pond we eventually emerged into heathland. Here we had our first (and best) sighting of the day of a male Dartford Warbler singing from the top of a dead tree stump. Two Buzzards and a Red Kite were seen in the distance and a Kestrel put on a fine display nearer to us, obviously actively hunting. We had good views of a pair of Linnets at this stage. A single Swallow flew by but, sadly, there was a noticeable absence of hirundines throughout the day. We tried to find a Redstart and a Willow Warbler which we could hear singing but with no luck. A Cuckoo also teased us here by calling in the background but did not put in an appearance. More obliging were the Stonechat that we saw at regular intervals.
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