Blacktoft Sands RSPB

First day back in Halifax and I decided to head off. Chosen site? Blacktoft to hopefully get better views of the Monties and see the ring-necked duck that had been showing on and off there for a week or so.

I only narrowly made all my connections, with the train prior breaking down and meaning I missed a connecting train. The subsequent train got me to Goole 2 mins before the bus arrive, leaving me with that time to find the bus stop. Somehow I made it, and was on site for 10.

The RND had not been seen yet, so I thought about how best to approach my day. I decided to go and see the Spotted Redshanks first, as they were in full summer plumage, which is a plumage I have never seen before. There were 3 all lined up looking amazing in black, but they spent all their time sleeping, which kind of took the gloss off it. They only moved occasionally when flushed by a Lapwing, so I could not really get a good record shot. Either way they looked superb, but it would have been nicer if they were doing something.

-Spotted Redshank

After a while watching the spotshanks I moved on to the hide I had visited prior to look for the harriers. They were not showing, and I did not stay in that hide for long. I next moved on to the hide where the RND had been favoring. That was also not showing but I stayed in here a bit longer. There was an upstairs to this hide giving me more of a vantage point over the marsh, and I soon picked out the female Montagu's Harrier flying over the reeds.

It was distant, though she came a bit closer as she moved from right to left, but never close, and all my record shots were distant and nothing spectacular. Having said that, it meant I got to finally look and appreciate the birds, unlike last times fleeting glimpse which I messed up with the camera. And I have some record shots. Despite the lack of duck I was well pleased with how the day was progressing.

-Female Montagu's Harrier

The female came by a few times in the end, never close but good views could be had through the scope. I had to wait until mid afternoon before I got a look at the male, who was very distant and did not come particularly close.

Its the first time I have seen a male harrier that's not been a Marsh Harrier (which were in abundance on site) and I was pretty ecstatic about seeing it. It would have been nicer if he had come closer but I was more than pleased to have seen him. At one point, both he and a Marsh Harrier were in the air together, and at another point I saw both the female and male Monties flying together. What a superb bird, outstanding.

-Male Montagu's Harrier

Despite the lack of signal I was desperately refreshing the birdguides app to try and make sure that if the duck did appear I did not miss it. I did not get any information on the duck, but got a pleasant surprise when I saw a male Red-Necked Phalarope had been seen from the Singleton Hide. So I headed there.

As I arrived the rain began to pelt down, and before long there was a thunderstorm going on. The Phalarope looked less than impressed but once the storm had moved on it began to look a little happier. This is the first male of this species I have seen and was a bonus for the day out. It did not come especially close so I only got record shots but its still a superb looking little bird.

-Male Red-Necked Phalarope

-Red-Necked Phalarope

I left the reserve at 5.00 feeling pretty pleased with a fine days birding. The other birds of note were a few distant Bearded Tits, but these were mere specks. The only downside was at 6.00, when waiting in Doncaster station I checked the news to see that the RND had been found again at 5.00 from the Singleton Hide, but you can't win them all.

Species List:

Blacktoft Sands RSPB: Swift, Tree Sparrow, Gadwall, Shoveler, Woodpigeon, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Little Grebe, Spotted Redshank, Black-Headed Gull, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Coot, Little Egret, Reed Bunting, Tufted Duck, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Kestrel, House Martin, Swallow, Montagu's Harrier, Pochard, Starling, Shelduck, Pied Wagtail, Great Crested Grebe, Dunnock, Mute Swan, Linnet, Sedge Warbler, Wigeon, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, Avocet, Redshank, Sand Martin, Bearded Tit, Curlew, Chaffinch, Red-Necked Phalarope, Swallow, Moorhen, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Pheasant, Robin,

Yorkshire and Lancashire Birding with Zac and Jonnie

On Saturday afternoon I received a message from Zac asking if I wanted to come with him for the monties harriers at Blacktoft, and that we would then move over to Spurn to see if we could find anything good. Of course I agreed and due to the weather we set off slightly later with Jonnie Fisk and arrived at Blacktoft for 11 to see what we could get.

As soon as we arrived I year-ticked Sedge Warbler from one of the individuals that singing and song-flighting along the path to the hide where we would wait for the harriers. Once we were in the hide we learned that the male had been around. I was impressed by the high numbers of Marsh Harriers, at least 6 in the sky at any one time. Sadly the Montagu's Harriers where less showy. Zac picked out a female which we got views of but once again I made a terrible mistake and went for the camera, when will I learn not to do that when watching a lifer. The harrier flew over the reedbed for around 30 seconds before dropping down and that was the last we saw of it, and the male did not show during our stay.

There were other birds around, including a very aggressive Great Crested Grebe which attacked a family of Graylag Geese right in front of the hide. It was a fairly vicious attack too, not holding back at all as it clipping and nipped the geese until they got out of the water. On the Island in the middle of the lake Jonnie picked out a pair of sleeping Gargany too. Again, they were a little distant sadly and I could not a decent shot of them but they were great to see, even though they hardly lifted their heads up. I also had my first swift of the year, as they hunted over the reedbeds with the hirundines.

-Gargany

We had intended to stay longer but news broke of a Red-throated pipit near Manchester and Zac said we were going for it. Personally I would have waited given that these birds don't tend to stick around from what I understand but it seemed to be doing a reasonable job, and as you will see later, Zac made the right call as per.

Despite the monties, the real highlight of Blacktoft came just as we were leaving. As we were walking out of the hide a young Spoonbill came towards us from the direction of the other hides. Zac and Jonnie left to go to the next hide along to see if they could catch it there but I stayed and could see it flying low across the scrape in front of us. Then, it decided to land on the island in the middle of the pond, with that fantastic beak out in all its glory. It had a quick bark at some mallards, stayed for about a minuet before flying off again. It was possibly the highlight of my day, but maybe not quite, and was the best view of the species I have ever had. Not only that but I got some reasonable photos from it, please excuse the excessive number of photos about to be shown...

-Spoonbill

We raced off for the pipit after that. My phone was down, so I had no idea whether the bird would have stuck or not. The weather was lifting as drove, with the rain easing off until it had almost stopped. We drove over the snake pass, which was, surprisingly, a first time for me. It truly is a beautiful road make no mistake, and I was impressed. On the way over we saw Red Grouse, Common Buzzard and I spotted a Raven, though it took me a while to work out it was not a bird of prey.

Eventually we arrived at the pipit. It had taken a little longer than we had anticipated but we still made it for early afternoon and to our delight the bird was still showing. It took us a while to work out the directions as it was so close to the wall, when we expected it to be feeding out in the field with the other mipits.

Sadly it did not stay there long and then flew off into the field. It was re-found but was further away. making it harder to get record shots though the view was still fantastic. In the end we had about half an hour-40 mins with the bird before a thunderstorm came in and the bird was flushed by the lightening, moving it into the middle of the field. We left when the storm hit but the bird was refound in the afternoon.

So about the bird. For a bird that's usually seen flying overhead calling we were very lucky to see this bird. It was stunning adult, complete with red-breast, something I never thought I would see but here it is and fantastic it was too. When the sun caught it fully it stood out in the field even without bins, almost like a carrot or something. It looked extraordinary and yet fantastic. The stripes on the back were also pretty cool to see, those white marks which distinguish it from other pipits when it lacks its breast. And when it flew we even heard it call, so we call a full house on the bird. Fantastic!

-Red-throated Pipit

-The Twitch with incoming storm clouds

Absolutely buzzing from that, with now 2 lifers under my belt, we contemplated what to do next. We decided to go to Pennington Flash to see a Black Tern that had dropped in. Again, I expected it to have left but I had already been wrong once today and would happily be proven wrong again. By this point the storm had stopped and the sun was now out, though it was a little blustery.

We arrived on site to find the sky filled with Swifts but to news that the tern had been lost. Nevertheless we settled down to try and scout it out. I picked it out among the common terns but it had been roosting well down which is why no one had found it. I then spotted a Common Sandpiper and a White Wagtail, so this reserve obviously is where I was most at home.

The tern, my first inland and first landed, then flew on to a branch at the end of the rocks where it stood out much better. Sadly it was too distant for any great attempt at a photo but I had a stab through the scope and they will serve Ok as a record shot. On the deck it was surprising how much smaller it was than the Common Terns it was with, despite having seen them in the tern roosts at Spurn.

-Black Tern

We continued on our way, next stop being the wirral to have a look at some dotterel that were supposed to be chilling on the beach. We did not see the dotterel but we did see a fantastic summer plumage Curlew Sandpiper which was feeding among the dunlin. Sadly we lost it multiple times before we eventually got it settled. It was a fantastic bird, almost as good as the one at beacon ponds last year, but probably not quite...

And the final year-tick of the day was something of a surprise when Jonnie spotted a summer plumaged Grey Plover flying down towards us. It then flew straight over our heads allowing us to see its black belly before it continued on its way south. A fantastic end to the day.

-Curlew Sandpiper

And that's how we finished. Zac dropped me off at Liverpool station and I was soon on my way home after a fantastic day out birding, with 2 lifers. I have not had a day with 2 lifers since February, what an excellent day. Big thanks to Jonnie and Zac.

Species List:
Blacktoft Sands RSPB: Marsh Harrier, Sedge Warbler, Gadwall, Shoveler, Avocet, Montagu's Harrier, Gargany, Great Crested Grebe, Graylag Goose, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Woodpigeon, Swallow, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swift, Spoonbill, Carrion Crow, Rook, Chaffinch,
Ludworth Moor: Red-Throated Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Lapwing, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw,
Pennington Flash: Black Tern, Common Redshank. Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, White Wagtail, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Mallard, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Graylag Goose, Swift, Swallow, Cormorant, Starling,
Meols: Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Shelduck, Starling,