GREAT WHITE EGRET
Egretta alba
Scarce national vagrant
2008 -
An excellent first Group record, a bird was present briefly at Otley Wetland on 17th April.
2017
- Representing only the second and third Group records, a bird was seen at Warley Moor Reservoir on 18th October, followed by a remarkable group of four which passed Oxenhope Watchpoint (only two miles away) on 1st November.
BITTERN
Botaurus stellaris
Scarce winter visitor
1987 -
One was seen beside a moorland drainage ditch near Eldwick on January 22nd.
1991 -
A bird seen flying towards Brookfoot Lake at Elland Gravel Pits on 23rd December could not subsequently be located.
1992 -
Last year’s bird remained at Elland Gravel Pits giving excellent views at times between 3rd and 26th January. Presumably the same bird was flushed from dense vegetation on the river bank nearby on 11th March.
1998 -
A report was received of a bird flushed from the reeds at Otley Gravel Pits on 30th November, but unfortunately the bird could not be relocated.
2002 -
For the first time there were two in one year, being the fourthe and fifth for the Group. Individuals were well-seen at Otley Gravel Pits on 8th January and, less typically, flying up the Aire Valley at Silsden on 8th February.
2010 -
A bird at Otley Wetland, first identified on 18th January, had probably been present since the 10th, and was last seen on the 29th of the month. The sixth Group record.
2011 -
Otley Wetland produced a January bird for the second successive year, with one discovered there on the 2nd, and seen again on the 13th. The seventh Group record.
2012 -
This is the third year in succession that a bird has been discovered at Otley Wetland in January, but, like some others, the one there on the 16th didn’t stay around. The eighth Group record.
2013 -
This is the fourth year in succession a Bittern has been discovered at Otley Wetland. On two occasions in January a bird was seen flying up from the reedbed, gliding and landing, but on 20th February a dog, put into the reeds to flush out a fox, instead disturbed two Bitterns. This is the ninth Group record, but the first time more than one bird has been reported from the same spot.
2015 -
A bird was flushed from the reedbed at Otley Wetland on 1st April. This is the tenth record for the Group and the first since 2013
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON
Nicticorax nicticorax Rare vagrant
1990 -
An adult was present at Otley Gravel Pits from at least 17th July to at least 11th August. The bird usually spent its days roosting in the thicket of Willow Salix and Alder Alnus on the island at the first pool, flying westwards at dusk to unknown feeding grounds. However it did sometimes feed near the roost before leaving as darkness approached and was occasionally seen during the day.
1995 -
Reports from golfers of a ‘funny Bittern’ on Ilkley Golf Course percolated down to the bird-watchers after approximately a week, and it was identified as a first-winter Night Heron on 25th October. It gave excellent views or most of the next two days as it slept in a tree about ten yards from the roadside.
1998 -
A surprise find at the Group’s access site of Marley Sewage Works was a sub-adult bird on 14th April. The bird was first surprised at close range, and flew from a dense thicket of willow scrub into similar cover a couple of hundred metres away. It was later seen in flight leaving this thicket to fly upstream, but sadly could not be relocated.
2004 -
A first-summer bird was found along the River Aire near the Denso Marston Nature Reserve on 7th May, and was seen until at least the 9th. This, remarkably, represents the fourth Group record.
PURPLE HERON
Ardea purpurea
Scarce national vagrant
1999 -
A description of a heron thought to be this species has been sent to YNU; on 18th September, this heron was flushed from Otley Gravel Pits, and was watched as it disappeared over the near horizon by the single observer.
2013 -
A bird seen at Snaygill Ings on 4th May was watched from about 50 metres before it flew off, circled high above and drifted away towards the north-east. A full description and distant photos have been submitted to the YNU. This is only the second recorded sighting of this bird, the first by an observer at Otley Wetland in 1997. Accepted by the YNU Records Panel
BLACK STORK Circonia nigra
Scarce national vagrant
1995 -
The bird provided excellent views for approximately three minutes as it drifted south-east down the Wharfe above Strid Woods on 26th April. The weather pattern at the time provided classic overshoot conditions.
GLOSSY IBIS
Plegadis falcinellus
Scarce national vagrant
1997 -
10th April provided the remarkable sight of four birds flying low over the moor near Kex Gill Quarry. Excellent views were obtained, and one bird was noted to have a yellow ring on its ring. Sadly the bird could not be relocated, having flown down the valley towards Skipton, (two birds were also recorded in Lancashire in late April).
EURASIAN SPOONBILL
Platelea leucorodia
Scarce passage vagrant
1991 -
An adult was at Knotford Nook briefly on 6th March.
2007 -
Marking the welcome reappearance of a species not recorded since 1991, a bird was seen flying east over Otley Wetland on 4th May. Like the previous one, it was noted by only two observers.
2012 -
A bird seen from Barden Scale on 17th October became only the third Group record.
2015 - Two flew over Whetstone Gate on 21st December, to provide an aggregate of only five birds since 1991, but the second record since 2012.