21st August

I have been away on a family holiday in Norfolk hence no posts for the last fortnight. As usual Norfolk effortlessly produced memorable wildlife moments - Twenty Spoonbills on Titchwell marsh, a big arrival of Pied Flycatchers including one that flew in off the sea and landed next to us on the beach at Cley, scores of Chalkhill Blues fluttering along the ditches of Warham iron age fort, three Cranes circling over the evocative remains of St Benet’s abbey…I could go on!

So I woke this morning a little gloomy that I would be restricted to the rather more mundane environment of Ainderby but a text from Chris Knight that he had seen two Whinchat in Morton was a considerable fillip.

As I walked to the muck heap fields I spotted this young Little Owl perched by the railway line…

There were lots of common warblers around and also reasonable numbers of butterflies including a couple of dozen Wall browns, my first parish records this year.

Chris was here but unfortunately the chats had flown off but as we were talking we spotted a superb Osprey over the river. It was soon mobbed at first by gulls and then by a Sparrowhawk. Unfortunately this was the best picture I managed…

I later got a brief glimpse of one of the Whinchats but in looking for them we stumbled across a great little corner with crab apple and hawthorn bushes that was packed with birds including lots of finches, a couple of Whitethroats and a good dozen phylloscopus warblers…

On the waterworks here there were five Grey Wagtails, a record count for the parish.

As I walked back through Morton I spotted the Osprey again circling over the village before rapidly climbing out of sight. An Osprey was seen at Nosterfield later this morning, I wonder if it’s the same bird?