JANUARY was not a particularly exhilarating month for local birdwatchers but nevertheless there were one or two sightings to get 2009 off to a reasonable start.

The pick was a Little Egret at Nosterfield. This handsome heron has seen a massive northerly expansion through Europe and is now a regular nesting species in southern England.

Winter numbers peak at perhaps 2,000 birds but the species still hasn’t really taken off in northern England and it remains a distinctly scarce bird in this area.

Other scarcer species seen in the Nosterfield area included a fine Long-tailed Duck, which was present for over a week midmonth, and a Chiffchaff showing the characteristics of the Siberian race.

Keen-eyed birders also picked out an Iceland Gull and Yellowlegged Gull from the thousands of other gulls which roost at the reserve.

The anticipated Waxwing influx I predicted for January didn’t quite happen in the numbers expected. However there were some reasonable flocks seen with at least 50 birds reported around Strike’s garden centre, Northallerton; 29 in Scott Close, Catterick village, 20 in Stokesley and smaller numbers at Nosterfield, Thirsk, Reeth and Richmond.

There’s still plenty of time for more flocks to appear so keep a look out for birds on any good patch of berry-bearing shrubs.

Another prominent species in January was, surprisingly, the Blackbird. There seems to have been a very significant immigration of Blackbirds, presumably from Scandinavia, and I’ve heard of some very large gatherings.

In our own small village garden I’ve counted up to 32 birds with 22 of these on a single Siberian crab apple tree. Interestingly, all of these birds were males.

In contrast many other winter thrushes have been in rather short supply although a flock of 450 Fieldfares was in the flooded fields around Ainderby Steeple.

Curlews too were present in impressive numbers. The fields around the lakes at Bolton-on- Swale have attracted winter flocks for many years now and numbers peaked at over 400 this January but impressive numbers seen elsewhere included up to 200 in the Nosterfield area, 146 on the floods at Ainderby Steeple and a stunning count of over 1,000 birds in fields between Wensley and Bolton Castle.

This latter flock must be one of the largest in Britain.

Other wader records of interest included Black-tailed Godwit at Nosterfield, two Green Sandpipers and Jack Snipe at Thorpe Farm pools and another Jack Snipe at Cod Beck, Osmotherley.

Also in January a movement of Pinkfooted Geese brought 51 to Thorpe Farm, 28 to Nosterfield, 15 at Bolton-on-Swale and 12 over Thrintoft. Small herds of Whooper Swans were seen at Great Langton, Nosterfield and Thorpe Farm; two Barn Owls, a Goshawk and regular Peregrine were at Nosterfield and a mealy Redpoll was seen at Bolton-on- Swale.

Looking ahead, February often sees the start of Spring movements with good numbers of Oystercatchers passing through by month end. Nosterfield is the best site but Marfield reserve, near Masham and Thornton Steward reservoir also attract good numbers.