The Lincolnshire Bird Club

A large flock of Yellow Wagtails is currently present between Garthorpe village and the River Trent, counted as about 75 on 27th July, 100 on 31st July and 1st August, and 135 on 2nd August. Most are feeding along, and on the grass verges of, a quiet narrow road bordered a deep ditch and then arable fields (cut barley, uncut wheat, beans and peas). When disturbed, and some probably also are feeding there, birds use the fields but mostly they're in the roadway (where they are a traffic hazard surpassed only by the potholes lovingly preserved for posterity by North Lincolnshire Council). Some perch high on straw stacks beside the road at one point.

Most of them are juveniles, and we'd noticed high numbers nesting in the fields around here this year so many may be local. I've not tried to discover where they go to roost but guess it is either Blacktoft Sands or Alkborough Flats. We are still relatively early for autumn peak numbers of Yellow Wagtails so I'll be hoping for higher counts in due course, though things may change when the wheat is cut.

A significant flock, Andrew, particularly as they are seen during the day. It would be good to locate the roost site.

Hi Andrew
good numbers feeding amongst the cattle at Alkborough about 80 or so but may be many more as they all don't get up at once; proving attractive to Hobbies and a female Merlin on Friday first of the autumn; no obvious sign of a big influx of birds at Alkborough in the evenings so they could be at Blacktoft but they also roost in un cut wheat so could be even more local?

Good to see some significant numbers of Yellow Wagtails. Last week there were up to 50 on the sea-bank at Donna Nook, while today there were upwards of 75 on a field of stubble between Conisholme and the wind turbines. Additionally, ca. 12-15 Yellows and 10 Pied Wagtails were seen between here and Alvingham village. Nearly all were juveniles.

An update on my Yellow Wagtail counts at Garthorpe of a month ago. I never managed a count of more than 135 but 75-100 were still present for a week or so after 2nd August. Once crops along the road were cut, though, there were fewer there but we retained about 50 feeding behind our cattle until the end of August, when numbers abruptly declined (I didn't note it but I think it was 50 on 31/8 and 5 on 1/9. There were still 80+ roosting at Blacktoft Sands just over the border in Yorks on the 2nd though). Quite a number (30 or so) were feeding on the ground in nearby field beans - goodness knows what on - but so far as I could make out none roosted here. Since the start of September a few have remained, with seven today, the 11th.

Lincolnshire is becoming increasingly important for Yellow Wagtails. In the BBS in 2012, an amazing 25% of birds counted in the UK were in this county; this is not the same as saying 25% of the population is here (though that is not impossible) because it doesn't take differing levels of coverage into account - but it's still impressive. Equivalent figures for other farmland birds include 6% for Skylark and Linnet and 8% for Tree Sparrow. A look at the 2007-11 Atlas maps (see http://blx1.bto.org/mapstore/StoreServlet?id=334) show how areas of high relative abundance are concentrated between east Yorkshire and the Fens. The most recent figure for the rate of their decline is 43% during 1995-2012. Now, bear in mind that apart from a small population along the coastal strip opposite Dover, Yellow Wagtail M f flavissima is restricted to Britain as a breeding bird. Hmm.