Birding In Ripley

THE RARE HORNBEAM TREE


BLUEBELLS ON A GRAY DAY

Today I went on a guided birding hike near Ripley. The skies were dull gray with heavy cloud cover and there was a sharp wind that chilled us to the bone. When we walked into wooded areas the light was so compromised it gave the scenery a monochromatic aspect, making bird identification difficult. Our local birding expert, Robert, led the walk along with local nature guru Nigel Heptinstall. We had not even left the car park in Ripley before sighting several different species. We did an easy two-hour walk in the area and spotted about 30 species with the help of Robert's keen eyes...and ears. He is able to identify many birds by their songs and calls. Robert gave us tips on identifying birds and informed us about bird behavior. Robert is also well informed about wild plants; he had many of us chewing on wild sorrel, garlic and other plants whose names I can't remember. Nigel, who writes a weekly column in the Harrogate Advertiser about the great outdoors, pointed out a rare hornbeam tree, the only one that he knows of in the general area. He also filled us in on local history and legends.

To the best of my recollection and in no special order, these are the species of birds we identified by sight on our walk. (Robert identified a good deal more by sound.):

• blue tit
  
• great tit
  
• green finch
  
• goldfinch
  
• dunnock
  
• redleg partridge
  
• pheasant
  
• stock dove
  
• wood pigeon
  
• mallard
  
• starling
  
• blackbird
  
• coal tit
  
• long-tailed tit
  
• great heron
  
• rook
  
• carrion crow
  
• jackdaw
  
• nuthatch
  
• robin
  
• curlew
  
• lapwing
  
• collared dove
  
• song thrush
  
• mistle thrush
  
• chaffinch
  
• wren