06/10/24 - Bearded Tits

With autumn well and truly here, the next couple of months offers the best time of year to locate Bearded Tits in the Lower Derwent Valley, and following on from a group of four near Riccall on Friday, four were then present at Wheldrake Ings on Saturday followed by seventeen there yesterday, with another two at Melbourne. This makes this year one of the best years on record for the area already.

Resident in the UK throughout the year, Bearded Tits often disperse from their breeding sites in extensive reedbeds during the autumn, sometimes undertaking regular ‘eruptions’ (a term used when flocks of birds rise out of their breeding reedbeds and take high towering flights with lots of excited calling). Small groups then peel off and disperse and it is these birds that can turn up at this time of year away from their usual haunts, making it a good time to look out for them in suitable habitat within the area.

Any areas with reedbeds or reed fringes are worth checking for these fantastic little birds, often first noticed by their distinctive ‘pinging’ calls. The small reedbeds at Wheldrake Ings have been a local ‘hotspot’ in previous years - however, areas of reed along the Pocklington Canal are also worth checking. Hopefully recent work driven by the Friends of the LDV (thanks to grants from York Birding, the Local Nature Partnership, Betty’s and Yorkshire Water in creating new reedbed habitat), will help create areas for future erupting birds. Many thanks to local birder Duncan Bye for this fantastic image of a stunning male, taken at Wheldrake Ings over the weekend. Whilst visiting the site please do let us know if you hear or see any Bearded Tits, or anything else of note, thank you.