Whiteholme Birding; updates from the week 04th - 06th September

  The rainier conditions this week has seen us return to Whiteholme for some birding. Initially, this was simply so we could go somewhere that the birding would not be so affected by the weather, but as it happened the birds were good to us and so we kept going throughout the week. In total we made three visits to the reservoir on consecutive days and on each day the birding was brilliant with good numbers of waders.

• The rarest visitors of the week were a pair of Ruff that we found on our first visit on the 04^th. They were not super confiding but a new island that has emerged in the Northeast of the reservoir has proved popular with wader throughout the week, and we were able to get good views of them as they fed here. The birds remained present until the 06^th, which was our last visit of the week. This is a Halifax tick for me, and certainly helped pay off the effort of visiting this site. 

• A message from JJL reporting big numbers of waders during the afternoon of the 05^th, including some Sanderling, was all the motivation we needed to find ourselves heading back up to Whiteholme for our second day. John was not wrong, as the wader numbers were really quite impressive, and lurking among them were no less than five pristine juvenile Sanderlings. The juveniles of this species are some of my favourite waders, so this was well appreciated. The birds kept their distance at all times, so no close photos, but when they flew as a flock it was like being back on the Humber. Nice one John.

• As mentioned, there were good numbers of waders present on the 05^th, but there were also good numbers before and after this date. The two species involved were Common Ringed Plover and Dunlin. On the 04^th there was a small group of four Ringos and seven Dunlin, but the numbers really peaked on the 05^th with no less than 13 Ringed Plover and 10 Dunlin. The following day the Ringed Plover total remained the same but the Dunlin count almost halved with just six remaining. Crucially however, we noticed that one of these Dunlin had a yellow Darvic ring, as well as another ring that, after talking with PC, is probably a standard metal ring stained by the peat. Frustratingly we could get close enough to read the code, so the bird's story will remain a mystery. 

• Also on the 04^th was a nice group of six Common Snipe feeding on the edge of the reservoir, the first time I have seen them doing this here. The following day there were two snipe on the edge of the pools on the northeast side of the reservoir, presumably birds settling in to their winter quarters. 

Although Waders form most of the billing for this site, they are not the only points of interest and this there were a few migrant birds also at the site. 

• There have been really good numbers of Wheatears feeding on the rocks and shoreline of the reservoir. We estimated at least 10 on the 04^th, which was our only morning visit of the week, with the other afternoon visits providing six and eight respectively. Its always good to see these handsome birds before they leave.

• On the 04^th there were four Stonechat feeding with the Wheatears on the reservoir dam wall, including two very dapper males. Strangely we did not see any on either of the other days we visited, but they could have only been passage migrants quickly on their way after a quick stop. 

• There was no visible passage as such, but on the 04^th two Sand Martin flew to the east, and on the 05^th a Swift flew high south, which will almost certainly be my last Swift in the UK this year.  

-Ruff

-Common Snipe

-Sanderling with Dunlin & Ringed Plover

-Dunlin carrying a Darvic ring

-Wader flock

-Northern Wheatear

-Stonechat

Species List:
Whiteholme Reservoir:  Eurasian Teal, Red Grouse, Common Swift, Common Ringed Plover, Ruff, Sanderling, Dunlin, Common Snipe, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Eurasian Wren, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Meadow Pipit,