We are enjoying warm sunny weather and clear skies, very favourable conditions for raptor watching in North Yorkshire. In the company of friend Steve for the day, we 'socially distanced' our way up to Troutsdale in our respective vehicles. We made an early start and while the air temperature rose, took the opportunity to check out Hilla Green on the upper reaches of the River Derwent. We were in to some great birds straightaway, finding one of the wild Mandarins, a female with four or five ducklings. We later had around a dozen mostly male Mandarins take flight from this ideal breeding habitat. Plenty of warblers were singing - Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and surprisingly, we were soon separating the songs of Garden Warbler from Blackcaps. There were possibly two Garden Warblers which, unlike the Blackcaps, preferred to remain in dense foliage and were barely seen. We had better views of one, later in the day at Wykeham. Goldcrests were singing and in the treetops, we found our first Spotted Flycatcher. On the river, a Kingfisher flew through twice and one Dipper was seen collecting food. Along the riverbank we saw a Treecreeper, some Bullfinches flew through and a family of Nuthatches fed in a bush close by. As the morning warmed up, we moved a little further into Troutsdale and took up a position for raptor watching. After noting a Common Buzzard and two Kestrels, we were treated to the sight of one of the recently arrived Honey Buzzards. Of the birds which have been seen, this appears to be the dark individual. It was seen well with flattened wings and protruding head, circling us for a while. One of the closer Common Buzzards. From this same position we saw one Goshawk flying along the hillside behind us. Around us were a Grey Wagatil, Whitethroat, Yellowhammer and Pied Wagtail in the fields. Occasional Siskins flew over calling loudly. We moved our location for a while into nearby Langdale. Again, a well forested area but it gave us only Common Buzzards. A distant Green Woodpecker was picked up, high on a conifer and a much closer Great-spotted Woodpecker flew twice, in front of us. Finally, up at the raptor watchpoint in Wykeham forest, another Goshawk was seen tangling with Common Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk showed up here. As mentioned earlier, a Garden Warbler was singing from the small bushes in the above picture and showed for brief moments.
Before leaving the watchpoint, around six Crossbills flew into a conifer some way off and I managed to locate a 'red' bird before they moved on . A single Common Crane across farmland. 20+ Common Swifts. Sedge Warblers. Willow Warblers. 2 male and 1 female Garganey on a small wet area. A passing Jay.
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