Wintersett Annual Round Up 2018

Wintersett Annual Round Up 2018

Weather

January – mainly dull, damp and cold.

February – cold with some light snow.

March – cold with light snow, then wet but milder days with easterlies on the 17^th

April – mild and dry for first half, when 23 degrees on the 19^th was the warmest Yorkshire April day since records began! Then mainly dull, damp and drizzly until the end of the month.

May was hot and sunny.

June was hot and sunny, but on the 14^th, Storm Hector brought high winds that swamped nests at most water bodies. There was a thunderstorm on the 16^{th .}

July was hot and dry until the 28^th when there was some very welcome rain.

August was hot and dry, but cooler during the final week.

September was mainly warm and dry with winds from the western quarter.

October warm and dry, with cooling winds during the last 2 weeks.

November was cold

December was cool at first but mild from mid month.

The Wintersett Area recorded 170 bird species for 2018

The Top Ten Birds were: -

1. Alpine Swift on 23^rd April - a new species for the Wintersett Area

2. Coues’s Arctic Redpoll ringed on 26^th November, the first since 1996.

3. Woodlark on 25^th October - 2^nd area record.

4. Hooded Crow – 2 were seen on the 3^rd .November.

5. Greenland White-fronted Goose – 28 flew west on 25^th October - 3^rd area record.

6. Yellow-browed Warbler on 6^th November - 3^rd area record.

7. Siberian Chiffchaff from 15^th November - 3^rd area record.

8. Lapland Bunting one flew over on 17^th October.

9. Common Crane – 2 flew south on 29^th September.

10. Twite – birds flew over on 3^rd and 7^th October.
 
Incredible as it may seem,  the following birds didn't make the top ten!
Kumliens' Gull,  Hawfinch, Honey Buzzard,  Wood Sandpiper,  Gannet,  Great White Egret,  Slavonian Grebe,  Smew and Waxwing!!!
  
Other highlights:-

2 new rafts, designed and built by Graham Speight, were floated into place at Anglers CP on 24^th March.

The first Bee Orchid for Anglers Country Park was found on 6^th July

We had epic Vis Mig Days on 22^nd September when a record breaking 11,169 Meadow Pipits flew south, and again on 28^th October when 6,235 Starlings flew west.

Glaring Omissions: Turnstone, Sandwich Tern, Redstart

Other Critters

The first Grass Snake of the year was seen on 26^th March, followed by numerous sightings throughout the Wintersett Area.

The Soft-shelled Turtle showed up again on 5^th July at Wintersett Resevoir for the first time in 4 years.

Odonata

The first records of Small Red-eyed Damselfly were added to the Wintersett list, with sightings at Moorhouse Lane Ponds on 5^th to 11th August , and at Botany Bay on 7^th August.

There were several records of Lesser Emperor from 2^nd to 25th July.
 

Lepidoptera:

The first Essex Skipper since 2009 was seen at Wintersett Reservoir on 14^th July.

2 Lunar Marbled Brown on the 8^th May were the first records for the area, and a Barred Hook-tip on the same night was the 2^nd record for the area.

And finally:

The Wintersett Team  wish everyone

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR  and excellent birding in 2019