Hilla Green, Forge Valley and Wykeham Lakes - 9th March 2018

Coal Tit, Forge Valley

Now that the "Beast from the East" is history, it is good to get back to some normality (whatever that might be!). The weather at the moment seems stuck in a "good day, bad day" pattern and today was a good day! After a heavy frost, the temperatures rose to early spring normal so it would have been rude not to have made the most of it. Today we explored the rather pleasant lanes around the Forge Valley (within the Scarborough recording area).

We started at Hilla Green, new territory, in the hope of finding Dipper on the River Derwent. We were very lucky, finding one just below the bridge, staying for about five minutes, before disappearing and being the only Dipper seen today!

This was my first Dipper in three years and my first to be seen in Yorkshire! Whilst watching the river a Kingfisher darted past, upstream, but failed to stop. Nearby, on a more sedentary water, two male and two female Mandarin ducks were spotted, but by the time we had stopped the car and reversed back, they had taken to flight and may have landed upstream on the Derwent. A ggod spot for us, as again a three year tick and our first in Yorkshire!

Heading to the Forge Valley, a stop off was made at Wrench Green, again to check for Dipper, but none were located. We did see a Grey Wagtail and the trees on the bank held c30 Siskins.

Grey Wagtail

Arriving at the Forge Valley feeders, the usual suspects were active with Marsh Tit as a year tick, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Pheasant, Blackbird, Chaffinch and Robin.

Marsh Tit

Great Tit

Nuthatch

Long Tailed Tit

Our next stop was at Wykeham Lakes where earlier in the day a Great White Egret had been seen. Needless to say, it was not visible when we arrived! All of the wildfowl had been pushed to the far side of the lake due to a group of model boat enthusiasts pursuing their hobby. However, several Brown Hares were located in the adjoining fields.

Brown Hare

Overall, very pleasant early spring birding! However, the car looks as if it has been competing in rally cross courtesy of the road / track leading to the Wykeham Lakes viewing platform!