The rare and colourful birds migrating to Yorkshire this spring
Migrating birds are flocking to Yorkshire as the weather warms up and promises a bumper season for ornithologists. Steve Teale reports.
Spring is seeing the return of thousands of migrating birds coming from their wintering grounds back to Yorkshire to breed as well as some passing through as they head further north to their Arctic breeding grounds.
Species returning include: one of the rarest breeding birds in the UK, the black-necked grebe, at RSPB St Aidan’s, Britain’s loudest bird, the bittern, at RSPB Old Moor, hordes of gannets and puffins at RSPB Bempton Cliffs and avocets (the RSPB’S emblem) at RSPB Blacktoft Sands.
Across Yorkshire’s five flagship RSPB nature reserves, visitors can see over 100 different species as resident birds (such as lapwings, Cetti’s warblers and bearded tits) are joined by summer migrants fresh in from Africa.
Thousands of migrant birds have been arriving back into Yorkshire this month from their African and offshore wintering areas, as the breeding season is about to begin.
After spending the winter months predominantly further south and around the coast, black-necked grebes have begun arriving at RSPB St Aidan’s, near Leeds, where the nature park is home to around 30 per cent of the UK population of this rare and vulnerable species.
Nearby, the large and growing heronry at RSPB Fairburn Ings is now packed full of displaying and nesting grey herons, cormorants, spoonbills, little and cattle egrets making it a must-see breeding bird spring spectacular.
The magic of Spring has well and truly arrived across RSPB nature reserves in Yorkshire where visitors are flocking to hear skylarks singing, bitterns booming and the unforgettable sound of summer from the cuckoo.
At RSPB Old Moor, near Barnsley, male bitterns are booming loudly with the distinctive but haunting sound reverberating across the reedbeds where sedge warblers and reed warblers are singing to announce their recent arrival from tropical West Africa.
At RSPB Blacktoft Sands, near Goole, breeding avocets with their long blue legs and upturned bills are bringing the shallow lagoons to life with their distinctive loud ‘klute-klute’ call while breathtaking male and female marsh harriers are sky-dancing together above the reedbeds.
And at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, comical puffins and thousands of gannets are now busy building their nests on its chalky white cliffs, having returned from the cold waters of the Atlantic.
Migrant birds passing through include black-tailed godwits and whimbrels on their way to Iceland and dunlins heading to Scandinavia, all stopping off in Yorkshire to feed and build up strength for their long journeys.
Richard Barnard, the RSPB’s area manager for Yorkshire, said: “Across all our nature reserves, we work hard to maintain the perfect habitat conditions for birds and it’s a real privilege to be able to share them with thousands of visitors here in Yorkshire.
“Many species such as lapwings, cuckoos and puffins are in decline but there is time to turn this around. And every visit to our nature reserves helps support our vital conservation work in Yorkshire.