Swinemoor

Wood sandpiper
Greenshank
Golden Plover
Golden Plover

I went for a look on Swinemoor last night in the hope of some waders.I parked up at Hull bridge and walked south along the river Hull.Not much on the way down but a family of newly fledged pied wagtails was nice and also a sparrowhawk flying over were nice.

It was my intention to head towards the stone bridge over barmston Drain but there has been some rather confrontational looking bullocks released onto the common just lately so not wanting to find out who could run the fastest I made an about turn when one was paying too much interest in me.

I went along the bank of the river and saw lots of meadow pipits and more pied wagtails.There was also a few reed warblers calling from the cover of the opposite bank.

Further along the meadow got increasingly wetter and it was here that there was most happening.

A decent sized flock of lapwings were accompanied by an even bigger flock of starlings, also a single golden plover looked stunning amongst the new grass.Near the waters edge was a skulking wood sandpiper and in the pools were a pair of greenshank.

There was also a snipe in the mud and plenty of swifts,housemartins and sand martins skirting over the pools.

Looks very promising and another rare wader is a distinct possibility.

Beacon Ponds

Roseate Tern
Knot
Roseate Tern

Little Tern
Little Tern

I was a bit pushed for time this Sunday and as much as I would have liked a trip North for the terek sandpiper, I had to make do with searching for Roseate Terns at beacon Ponds.

A big tide was forecast and high water was about 8.30 so I set off at about 5.30am in the hope of catching the waders as they moved off the Humber mudflats.

The wind had veered southerly from the stron south easterly the day before.

I was a bit concerned that the sea would have been a bit rough and made the walk to the hide at Beacon Ponds a bit more of a challenge.

The walk along Beacon Lane was uneventful apart from a single sedge warbler and even when I reached the hide there were only a few birds.The obligatory ringed plover were skulking on the sand dunes and the sandwich terns were quite flighty.A couple of black headed gulls and the odd common tern were amongst the flock.Quite a few swifts were passing through but no sign of anything special amongst them.

The wader numbers built up as the tide flooded and grey plovers were joined by dunlin,knot and turnstone.

Still no sign of the roseate terns.

Another small flock of Dunlin were joined by a single curlew sandpiper, unfortunately it was not summer plumaged and remained distant.

The tern numbers continued to build up mainly sandwich and the odd common.

Little terns were buzzing about overhead and every now and then a male would bring a sandeel to an unimpressed female crouching in the dunes.a distant greenshank and a couple of redshanks offered soem variation on the wader front, then finally as the terns kept on coming a fine roseate tern landed on the furthest spit and started preening.

Its pink breast stood out quite considerably from the paler sandwich terns.The photos do not really do it justice.

Not much on the way back, only common stuff on Beacon Lane.

It did look promising and I will be back there again in the next couple of weeks, Terek Sandpier would be nice.

Windy day at Blacktoft

Ruff
Black Tailed Godwit
Spotted Redshank

Avocet & Chick
Green Sandpiper

I had a ride out to Blacktoft Sands yesterday for a look at the waders, and hoping to get some decent shots of the spotted redshanks.

Unfortunately it was probably one of the windiest June days on record and most of the birds were seeking shelter near the reeds at the far end of the Marshlands lagoon.

A nice bonus was the summer plumaged male ruff, he kept his distance but a nice bird all the same.

The lagoon was quite busy with plenty of avocets, a pair of green sandpipers ,the ruff, 4 spotted redshanks including one in none breeding plumage and some nice black tailed godwits.

One of the locals said that the levels of the lagoon had been dropped by about 6 inches and this had made all the difference for the waders to feed.

Hopefully there might be something special in the next few weeks as all the breeding birds return from the north.