Strensall Common YWT

Monday 12 April 2010

I had a brief flit around the Common yesterday lunchtime and I was going to have a walk around the Flaxton end of the reserve to see which butterflies were around. So far this year I have only seen Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma. However, both the layby areas were full of caravans, horses and their owners etc. so no stopping for me. I turned the car around a little further up the road and stopped to view three Greenland White-fronted Geese in the wet grassland by Wilks Plantation. An unexpected find! I have seen Common Buzzard circling above the plantation on a number of occasions here and a good variety of passerines at this end of the reserve plus Curlew and Kestrel, but this was a little more out of the ordinary.

Back to the main woodland end of things, the summer migrants are becoming more apparent, with Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler noted, in addition to the usual tit and finch population. No Treecreeper or Nuthatch today though.

Still no joy with Woodlark here this year. Patience...


Sunday 11 April 2010

A quick march about Ashberry YWT and the neighbouring woodland revealed good numbers of tits as well as Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, but no Common Redstart yet.