STICKING with tradition, I thought this would be a good time to look back over the past year which proved to be another interesting one for local birdwatchers.

The first winter period was depressingly familiar, with mild and very wet weather predominating, but nonetheless there were some interesting sightings, these included good numbers of "white-winged" gulls seen in the local roosts.

At least three different glaucous gulls and a minimum of seven Iceland gulls were noted at Bolton-on-Swale or Nosterfield, and these were joined by Mediterranean, little and yellow-legged gulls on occasion.

At Bolton-on-Swale, the regular wintering flock of curlews peaked at more than 750 birds, and the mild conditions also meant ruff were present on many days, with a flock of more than 20 birds. Other sightings of note included smew at Catterick, hawfinch near Carperby, two Bewick's swans and very good numbers of pinkfooted geese at Nosterfield and a bittern on the Ure near West Tanfield.

March didn't obviously herald spring, with heavy snow early in the month, but southerly winds and mild conditions by the month end saw an early influx of summer migrants. The first was sand martin, with birds seen at Nosterfield on the 16th, but by the month end, chiffchaff, swallow, little ringed plover, ring ouzel, wheatear and osprey had all been seen locally. Completely unprecedented, however, was the cuckoo, heard by a reliable birder near Nosterfield on the 28th (on which date there were birds seen on the south coast).

March and April turned up the usual smattering of scarce and rare birds which included a great white egret seen in flight over Leyburn; woodlark, little tern, blue-headed wagtail and up to five black-necked grebes at Nosterfield, red kites near Northallerton and in Colsterdale, and a golden eagle in the Stang.

May was to prove even more interesting with two fine rarities visiting the area and staying long enough for most interested birders to catch up with them. The first was a white-winged black tern seen at Bolton-on-Swale on the 10th. This was a fine summer-plumaged bird which performed superbly for the small, but appreciative audience. The appearance of this bird also showed once again the exchange of birds with Teesside as it had been seen on the north Tees marshes the evening before.

The second find, and coming less than a week later, was a broad-billed sandpiper at Nosterfield. This was the first local sighting, and was seen in the company of up to six sanderling. With more than 100 dunlin and 90 ringed plovers, four knot and a turnstone also seen at Nosterfield around this period the reserve bore a striking resemblance to a small estuary!

As so often, June was the quietest month for unusual birds with the exception of a report of two common cranes seen in flight over the A1 near Burneston. Into July, and following up a report by the local postman of two large birds, I stumbled across what were presumably the same birds at a site in the Wiske valley.

The August highlight was a grey phalarope at Nosterfield, the first local sighting for more than 25 years.

Other summer records of note included hobbies at three different locations, three drake common scoter at Nosterfield and three red-crested pochard seen at both Bolton-on-Swale and Nosterfield. Undoubtedly, the most exciting piece of news was the successful breeding of corncrakes in the Dales.

Moving into September, there were the early signs of a crossbill eruption with 30 birds at Osmotherley and small flocks also seen in Over Silton forest and in the Stang. Wader passage was not exceptional, but a fine pectoral sandpiper turned up at Nosterfield and curlew sandpipers were seen at this site and at Catterick. A red kite at Leighton on the 21st was seen in the company of no fewer than 11 common buzzards.

The second winter period started encouragingly with a hoopoe seen around derelict farm buildings on Stoney Brough Lane in Thirsk, and this was followed, incredibly, by Nosterfield's second grey phalarope of the year, another adult which was present for a couple of days in early November.

Finally, December sightings included a shorelark seen on the roadside near Leighton Reservoir, a fine flock of 66 pinkfeet at Nosterfield together with a probable bean goose and an Icelandic neck-collared greylag goose, proving once again that an element of our local greylags are of genuine "wild" stock. Here's to a happy and bird-rich 2003