10/10/18 - Autumn arrivals

It's that time of year again - the first Whooper Swans have started to appear back in the valley over recent weeks, with a group of nine on Wheldrake Ings the first to arrive. These birds will have been present in Iceland during the breeding season and will be freshly arrived here for the winter. Up to 100–150 birds winter in the valley most years, usually at the southern end of the reserve at North Duffield Carrs, in fields and on floodwater surrounding Bubwith Bridge. These early birds are likely to move through the valley, heading to wintering sites around the Cambridgeshire Fens, including the WWT centre at Welney. However, by mid-October we’d except to see the arrival of ‘our’ local wintering herd in the fields at North Duffield Carrs, please keep an eye out for colour-ringed birds – eagle eyed local birdwatcher Duncan Bye spotted a colour-ringed bird (ZGX) at Wheldrake Ings at the10 weekend. Details to follow.

This week there was also a sighting of six Bearded Tits going into roost in the reed bed at Wheldrake Ings – the first sighting there this autumn. Bearded Tits are resident in the UK throughout the year and disperse from their breeding sites during the autumn, sometimes undertaking regular ‘eruptions’ (a term used when flocks of birds rise out of their breeding reed beds and take high towering flights with lots of excited calling, before small groups peel off and disperse). 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 our area. Over the next month or so any areas with reed beds or reed fringes are worth checking for these amazing little birds, often noticed first by their distinctive ‘pinging’ calls. The small reed beds at Wheldrake Ings have been a local ‘hotspot’ in previous years but areas of reed along the Pocklington Canal are also worth checking for these delightful visitors. Many thanks to local birder Duncan Bye for his super photograph of a stunning male taken at Wheldrake Ings.