Top Ten Birds
Osprey
Black Tern
Lesser Yellowlegs
Peregrine
Hobby
Spoonbill
Marsh Harrier
Black tailed Godwit
Green Sandpiper
Ruff
The sunny days of summer (when we had them) are now turning into crisper autumn weather and the RSPB St Aidans nature park is gradually changing. The majority of the gulls have left and the site is quieter. The colours of the wild flowers have faded and the reeds, so dominant over the summer, are falling back.
In place of the shrieks of the gulls, the Canada and Grey Lag geese are creating a new soundscape – the loud honking becomes the background to autumn and winter at RSPB St Aidans. An occasional flock of pink footed geese has been seen flying over the site making their characteristic high pitched yelps and scratchy calls. With the geese being in full flight over the nature park, the Aire valley team are excited to be hosting our morning and evening goose roosts, which you can find here.
The water levels have been dropped over parts of the reedbeds and wet grassland revealing expanses of mud so attractive to a variety of different waders. Snipe, Green, Wood and Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, Ruff, Greenshank and Black Tailed Godwits have regularly been seen in the first few weeks of September.
The wardens and volunteer team have also been busy cutting back vegetation, clearing path verges and clearing vegetation on the many islands, with a view to providing better nesting habitats for our visitor gulls, terns and waders.
Little Egrets are observed daily on the site and the odd one or two Great White Egrets are also seen – this extraordinary, very white bird sporting an extremely long neck, can’t be missed. Spoonbills, flying over from RSPB Fairburn Ings are also regularly seen in September and it is always a pleasure to see such a remarkable bird finding its home in the UK. The RSPB in the Aire Valley is justly proud of the breeding success of our Yorkshire Spoonbills. Regular visits of a couple of Ospreys, flying between RSPB St Aidans and Eccup Reservoir, have added additional interest.
There have been some interesting rarities on site. Two Black Terns were seen feeding over the main lake for a number of days, trying to avoid the mobbing and attacks from gulls. Much excitement amongst the birding community was caused by the appearance of a Lesser Yellowlegs. This is a rare vagrant species, a visitor from America, similar in size to a Redshank. Unfortunately, it paid a very short visit to refuel before flying off, disappointing many of the regular RSPB St Aidans birders.
The end of August and beginning of September is a time of great change. Some summer visitors have still been observed as they are later in the start of migration. These include Hobby, House and Sand Martins, Swallows, Sedge and Reed Warblers. Winter visitors are starting to arrive. Teal numbers are increasing and there have been some sightings of Goldeneye and Pintail. We are now looking forward to the arrival of large numbers of winter ducks.
Don't forget to tell us your favourite sightings every Saturday morning as part of Sightings saturday!
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Words: H. Bladdon
Images: K. Speight