WORTH A GANDER?

There was a bit of excitement over the weekend with the relocation of seven Lesser White-fronted Geese at Palmers Flash, Flamborough. They were first seen arriving off the sea at Flamborough on 9th November and were not seen again until this weekend (16th Nov) when they reappeared. They originated from  the Swedish release scheme which is currently doing well, so we assume BBRC will assign them to Category E (thus not countable for YB Listers League) but most observers would agree that they are well worth seeing. The ringed bird is a male and was released as a juvenile in northern Sweden in July 2018 returning there since and wintering in the Netherlands. The three juveniles are apparently its offspring raised in northern Sweden this year having been paired with an un-ringed female which is likely one of the adults in the flock, the family having been last seen in Strigen in the Netherlands on 7th October. 

Lesser White-fronted Geese, Flamborough, Nov 24 - John Hewitt

 

SCARLET FEVER!

Scarlet Tanager, Halifax, November 2024 - Ian Smith

The big news currently for Yorkshire Listers is the appearance of the County's first ever Scarlet Tanager at Shelf, Halifax. News of the birds presence first broke Sunday when pictures of it appeared on social media and it soon transpired that it had been around several days. It's still present today, but is frequenting private gardens in and around a quiet cul-de-sac and with often limited viewing this is making it a tricky bird to catch up with, particularly today, when it was only sighted a couple of times in the morning. Hopefully it will stick around and perhaps find somewhere where it is more easily viewed. The bird itself is a first-year male and we do not envisage any issues with it's official ratification and as such are happy for anyone who has successfully caught up with it to add it to their Listers League tally. Scarlet Tanager should be inserted to your list immediately below Blackpoll Warbler and don't forget to let us know if you've seen by emailing yorkshirebirding1@gmail.com

The rest of November so far has gone pretty much as might be expected with the likes of Hume's, Pallas's, Radde's and Dusky Warblers reminding us that autumn has almost drawn to close, however, the relocation of the two "assumed genuine" vagrant Snow Geese to Swinemoor has made them far more guaranteed and we expect the species to be added to a lot more Yorkshire lists of the next few days.

Snow Geese, Swinemoor, November 2024 - Steve Clipperton

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Hume's Warbler, Easington, November 24 - Ian Smith

Pallas's Warbler, Easington, November 24 - Ian Smith