WFV, Blacktoft Sands, 20th Feb 2020

Submitted by Wildlife Field… on Thu, 20th Feb 2020, 6:04pm

This trip had been rescheduled after the reserve was closed due to flooding when we planned to go in the autumn. 

So, we watched with fingers crossed as storms Ciara and Dennis blew through during the past couple of weeks. Luckily, the reserve didn't suffer, and we were able to proceed as planned. 

There are six hides in the reserve, facing the Humber estuary, each with a slightly different outlook. We started in Xerox hide where we spent a while looking at a Ruff and deciding that the white marking at the base of the bill seemed a good identifying feature. Some other people in the hide identified three Redshank as Spotted Redshank. They were roosting with little on show, but we felt confident with this id due to their pale breasts. 

A Marsh Harrier was spotted here and again at Marshland hide, along with a buzzard which moved from post to post and into the reeds. We watched a pair of Goldeneye here, and again later in the afternoon. Three of the Konick ponies, used for grazing the reserve, were well camouflaged in the reeds between Marshland and Ouzefleet hides. 

We moved onto Ouzefleet in time for lunch. A few of the stragglers looked for Curlew in the grazing marsh, but only spotted Greylag (and a couple of Canada) geese and a flock of swirling lapwing. 

A shout of owl alerted us to a Barn Owl hunting along the ditch next to us. We watched it move along behind the hedge before losing sight of it. There was a large mixed flock of Fieldfare and Starlings in the field. 

There were plenty of Wigeon to be seen and quite number of Shoveler, Mallard and Tufted Duck. Never have we scrutinised the Teal so thoroughly – a Green-winged Teal has been seen through the winter, so we were looking for a Teal without the white wing stripe. We didn’t spot it, but we did enjoy 80 or so Black-tailed Godwits, especially watching their frenetic feeding. Some of them were showing signs of their orangey summer plumage. One Curlew flew over and there were several Redshanks.

In the afternoon we saw Gadwall, Little Grebe and a few Snipe from First and Townend hides. We also found an owl pellet on the sill outside the hide. It was pretty fresh! Alice is in the process of studying the bones within. I wonder if it is from a barn owl but haven’t identified it for certain yet.

To end the day we assembled at Singleton hide to look for harriers. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but both Marsh and Hen Harriers are known to roost in the reedbed over the winter. We watched several birds flying over the reeds and once I started to count, I noted 4 female and 1 male Marsh Harrier go into the reeds. Perhaps more had and we hadn’t been looking. We didn’t spot a Hen Harrier. There were also Kestrel and Buzzard, and just as we left the reserve there was a Sparrowhawk by the farm buildings. 

On the whole it was a fairly dry day, accept an extremely wintering squall just before we got in the minibus. Thanks to Kevin for sharing the driving. Sue wasn’t with us today and the gallery reflects this unfortunately.

Julia
 

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