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This is a dedicated page about the area of North Yorkshire where I live.

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Welcome to @Yorkshirewild 2024
birdwatching Blog.

It's a Night Heron

14.02.2024 Filed in: Ossett written by: Steve Farley

I use an alert system which is countrywide to alert me to birds that are locally or nationally scarce or rare. If they are very rare, they are called Mega's. For these birds below, there was and still is at the time of writing this a pair in Ossett West Yorkshire. This is nothing short of a miracle.

The Species is Nycticorax (Latin Name) the bird looks a little grey but is in fact very white with slightly skin tone ish legs. It was fascinating to watch it feeding.

It's a Megga

Ossett, West Yorkshire is not the place you would expect a pair of Black Crowned Night Heron to turn up in the middle of the night.

Birds, even very rare ones can turn up just about anywhere. This pair can't be fussy as they have made a temporary home among all the plastic rubbish and detritus on the river Calder. This was the first time iv'e been to this part of the river and I found it strangely beautiful. You can't help but notice the rubbish though, many tons of it on both banks. To see the bird was a quarter of a mile walk and a climb over a water tank trailer someone has deliberately put in the way of the path. This is presumably to deter walkers, how strange.

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Tags: Night Heron

Attenborough Nature Reserve

14.02.2024 Filed in: Attenborough Nature written by: Steve Farley

I really hope 2023 is much better for us all, much better for wildlife and much better for birds and birding. 2022 wasn't a bad year, in fact, it was quite a good one, more people seemed gentler, more in tune with nature, people spent more time outside, noticing more and intern "kinder".

Common Birds but plenty of joy.

I have never seen a nature reserve as busy as Nottingham's Attenborough nature reserve and visitor centre. People are desperate for the freedom that being outdoors brings. There were hundreds and hundreds of people with children and dogs all enjoying this vast open space.

Above: Egyptian Goose (more in the video)

Above: Gull on the Ice.

Above: Grey Heron and Great White Egret heading for trouble.

Above: Grey Heron and Great White Egret nearly collide in the mist.

Above: Great White Egret in the mist.

Two Days in the North

15.02.2024 written by: Steve Farley

Two Days in The North East
A Video Diary

Above film in UHD.

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It's January and a few trips planned

Blacktoft Sands, Yorkshire.

It was a quiet day at Blacktoft Sands, not many birds about, it was cold though…very cold and crisp. I saw some ponies walking towards us, probably half a mile away. Within what seemed to be a couple of minutes they were in the water.

Red Tailed Shrike

15.02.2024 Filed in: Bempton written by: Steve Farley Red Tailed Shrike

What a beautiful bird.

Red Tailed Shrike!

Red Tailed Shrike, possible country of origin, Tajikistan! Well who knows, it really is a beautiful bird though. We all get wrapped up in names and none are really wrong. I caught up with this individual on Sunday 31st July by which time it had been with us for at least 100 days.

Also known as the

Turkestan Shrike

Lanius phoenicuroides.

This is one of the smaller Shrike of the family, the bird is considered a mega and of course a must see. It is still showing well as I write this on the 4th August.

Order: Passeriformes

The Kittewakes of Bempton

Kittiwake are among the most beautiful birds in the world. They are the Marilyn Monroe, the Audrey Hepburn of birds, graceful with beautiful plumage and an air of superiority about them. They are accomplished and graceful flyers, they breed well in these parts and are a joy to look at.

Many people say that Bempton Cliffs is one of the best places in the United Kingdom for Gannet, Kittiwake, Razorbill, Puffin, Guillemot, Fulmar and now Black Browed Albatross. I never thought I would construct a sentence ending with Albatross and be talking about Yorkshire.