For some unfathomable reason I’d never visited Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve in North Yorkshire. I’ve known about the place for many years and that it’s the best place to see Woodlarks without a long trip south, but inexplicably have never made the effort. I decided earlier this year to put that right when the opportunity arose and it did last Friday, when doing an early morning drop off at Leeds Bradford airport meant I was less than an hour’s drive away and would be there at 06:30. A perfect time of year and day to hear Woodlark singing.
The drive from the airport took me past Harewood House where several Red Kites were easily seen from the car. I arrived at the east of the Common at Sandy Lane Car Park at 06:45 and was the only person there – just how I like it. It’s always nice to be the first person visiting a place in the morning as that often produces the best wildlife encounters and of course a dawn visit in Spring means the air is full of bird song.
This morning was no different with the usual species giving it their all in particular Chiffchaff and Wren of which I counted 17 and 16 of each singing during the morning. But I wasn’t here for the common birds, delightful as they are and I quickly started scanning for Woodlarks and listening for the distinctive song.
The Common is well served with paths and shortly after leaving the car park I was walking through some wonderful lowland heath and cursing myself for never having been here before. The air was full of birdsong and the list of species quickly grew, but constant scanning and listening didn’t reveal any Woodlark as yet, despite the excellent habitat and conditions.
I reached the mid-point of the path through the Common and had a choice of continuing west, or taking a separate path north. On seeing some finches further up the path to the north I followed that route and added Linnet and Redpoll to the morning’s list. I then reached the northern edge of the Common and an area of farmland called South Moor Field, which had been recently ploughed. Thinking I would need to turn back or find a loop round to further explore the Common I then heard the unmistakable song of a Woodlark over to my right about 300-400 metres away, so I followed the path along the edge of the field to get closer.
The Woodlark was singing from the ploughed field, sometimes in flight and sometimes on the ground. At one point it flew right in front of me about 20 metres away and landed out of sight in an Oak tree above me, but most of the time it was at some distance in the centre of the field. It was singing frequently though and I enjoyed half and hour of its wonderful song.
I made a rather poor quality recording which is not much more than a record of the event as the Woodlark is crowded out other birds singing more closely. It can still be heard singing throughout though. Along with the Woodlark I counted nine other species in the recording.
That was the only Woodlark I saw in the couple of hours I was there but I believe there are several pairs present now. After breakfast and a brew back at the car I headed home, determined to return before long to this precious fragment of nature. Next time I’ll spend longer here to really soak up the place and experience more of the wildlife. As enjoyable as it was, a single visit for a couple of hours is no way to do this place justice.