Spring is trying very hard to arrive at St Aidan's. The snow has been and gone, and been and gone again, buds are ready to burst, and many of the birds are looking for partners – some of them rather noisily. There was an absolute cacophony of black-headed gulls, many wearing their chocolate brown breeding plumage, over the reedbeds when I took my walk this week.
Black-headed gull - A sign of spring
Along the Hillside and down through the Ridge & Furrow, skylarks, curlews and lapwings can be seen and heard, as well as a variety of geese. There are currently pink-footed geese, greylags and Canada geese foraging, and I was treated to a distant view of four white-fronted geese too. These guys are the Greenland variety, as shown by their orange beaks. The British Isles also get visits from their pink-beaked Siberian cousins.
Spot the odd ones out
The birds don't have the place all to themselves. There have been sightings of a weasel and a hare on the Hillside and a frog over on Fleakingley reservoir.
Look up for the birds of prey. Over the Visitor Centre, you may well spot a red kite, a buzzard, or a kestrel, and a marsh harrier has been seen over Bowers. And check out the dragline for little owls. I spotted this kestrel high in a tree at the bottom of Lemonroyd lake.
Kestrel
As always, the crossroads was a busy spot. Looking west across Main lake will reward you with wigeon and teal, oystercatchers and goldeneye, mute swans, dunlin and the ever-present coots. Train your binoculars on the island for a green sandpiper. There were two ringed plovers visiting the other day, too, poking about in the delicious mud.
Ringed plover
Looking east over Lemonroyd lake you might see tufted ducks and some wonderfully beaky shovelers. Listen out for a song thrush, and there are a few robins about too, squabbling over territory. I met some visitors who told me they'd watched an amazing robin fight – proper fisticuffs, rolling around on the ground, feathers flying!
Down by Shan House bridge, along the bottom path, and around the Warrens feeding station, small song birds are busy. Siskins, great tits, and long-tailed tits are accompanied by marsh and willow tits. Good luck in telling them apart! Reed buntings are usually around and you could see goldfinches and greenfinches flitting about.
Siskin - Rob Parsons
My walk around the reedbeds was rewarded with the dulcet tones of a bittern booming. It will be fantastic if St Aidan's becomes home to families of these elusive herons. Bitterns were once common in Britain, but drainage of wetlands and hunting wiped them out in the 19th century. Since the end of the 20th century, various conservation projects to restore and protect habitats have brought numbers of booming males up to over 160. Read more about the RSPBs crucial work here.
Across the Park, keep a look out for colourful shelduck, chunky pochard and grey gadwalls doing their ducky thing. Kingfishers have been spotted near the Visitor Centre, and down through the site. Stonechats are popping up all over the place. Redshanks with their vivid legs have been seen on Fleakingley and there are plenty of great crested grebes on all the water.
Stonechat – Another sign of spring
Last but not least, many trees are waking up with displays of catkins. These alders, with their tiny, red-tipped female flowers, are the first to shed pollen in the spring.
Alder reaching for the sky
Coming up in the next few weeks St Aidan's is hosting an Easter Trail – hop along to learn about how hares and lapwings became part of the Easter story. Or join Andy Chapman on April 7th for his fascinating and informative Birding for Beginners walk.