THE best sighting in November was a Cetti’s Warbler found in the reedbed area at Lingham, Nosterfield. This is the first local record of this notoriously skulking warbler. A rather non-descript bird, its presence is usually given away by it’s incredibly loud, almost explosive, call.

Cetti’s is a relatively recent colonist from the continent and first nested in Britain in 1972 but has generally stayed a southern breeding bird.

However, in the last few years there has been a slow northward progression, probably reflecting recent mild winters, and the number of Yorkshire sightings has seen a steady rise. With birds recorded this month near York and on Teesside a local sighting was not a complete shock but it’s still a fine addition to the local list.

Incidentally, the Cetti’s pushes the total of birds recorded in this area up to 297 species, a remarkably high total for a sparsely populated inland area and one which exceeds, for example, the totals for whole counties like Shropshire and Herefordshire.

It’s interesting to speculate on what might be the next addition, my money would be on Cattle Egret as their numbers too expand northwards but one of the delights of birding is the unexpected so it could just as well be some transatlantic wanderer or exotic Asian visitor.

The Cetti’s wasn’t the only rare, and elusive, resident of Lingham’s reedbed with a Bittern present for much of the month. Sightings were infrequent and many birdwatchers went away disappointed but the bird was still there at the time of writing and is worth the effort of searching.

Late afternoon may be the best bet as they tend to be more active at that time of day.

The other sighting of note in November was a Long-tailed Duck on Newsham Ponds near the A66. This handsome sea duck has only been recorded on a handful of occasions in this area and has become particularly rare in recent years reflecting its scarcity on the Yorkshire coast. Newsham also attracted 10 Whooper Swans with 35 more seen at Nosterfield and 12 at Great Langton.

Readers may recall last month I mentioned a latestaying Swift which was seen over Castle Bolton in late October.

Remarkably, the bird stayed until mid-November making it far and away the latest record of Swift in this area. It appeared it was only the horrendous weather of late November which finally drove the bird out otherwise we might have been wishing it a happy Christmas.

Talking of which ... I’m often asked by people what present to get for the birdwatcher in their life. One sure fire hit is a good notebook, preferably a policeman-type with a band to hoold the pages down in a fierc north-easterly. Moleskin notebooks are particularly good, if expensive, but there are plenty of cheaper alternatives around.

I would also recommend the Collins Bird Guide which is quite simply the best field guide in the world with outstanding illustrations and text by some of the world’s top birdwatchers. Make sure you buy the second edition which has just been published and includes a number of new species.

Another safe bet is the Birdwatcher’s Yearbook which is packed with useful information on bird reserves, organisations etc. as well as excellent and very readable articles. The book is published annually by Buckingham Press and 2010 will be its 30th edition.

Finally, if you’re feeling really generous how about the latest birding scope from Leica, a snip at a mere £2,600.

It just remains for me to wish my readers a very happy Christmas and a happy and bird-filled new year.