Hello there, here is a little update of the news from Old Moor today.
We have news about both the grey phalarope and the spotted crake!
Volunteer Rob ‘spotted’ the spotted crake this morning from the Reedbed hide and others saw it at other times during the day. Rob told me of how he had been diligently scanning the edges around the mud from the hide with his scope. But all to no avail, no spotted crake could he see. A tale of woe until he stood up...
Below him, and right in front of the hide, was the spotted crake! I’m sure he said something along the lines of ‘Well blow me, if it isn’t the spotted crake!’ …or something...
The grey phalarope was still at Old Moor today as well. It showed from Wath Ings and the Field Pool East Hide but was fairly distant as it has been recently. It was also quite flighty and flitted from the area to the right of the spit from Wath Ings to the reeds at the back in front of the Field Pool East Hide. Scope and bins gave the best views.
I also have ‘stats’ news of this bird via David Bamforth on Twitter.
And I quote directly…
This bird is 7th or 8th record for Wath/@RSPB_OldMoor Area, and is the longest stayer. One stayed 3 days in 1998. Birds also stayed 3 days at Midhope 28-30 Oct 1972 & at Anglers CP 15-18 Sept 1992. More recently birds spent a few days at Edderthorpe (2013) & Worsbrough (2017).
David also posted this photo of grey phalarope stats over the years. Thank you David, very informative.
Other bird news is similar to the blog from yesterday from Andrew.
Kingfishers all over, male sparrowhawk in the Tree Sparrow Farm and grey herons squabbling on Wath Ings & catching large fish from the Toyota pond.
No news today of any great white egrets.
Recently there has been a grey heron giving close views from the Toyota platform and today was no exception. It was there for quite a while this morning and intent on fishing. Grey herons can stand still for ages and ages as they hunt fish. This one had a bit of a prowl and then did just that. What happened next was very unexpected... It dived head first (just like a kingfisher we thought) into the water and completely submerged its head and neck before emerging with a fish. I completely missed taking a photo at this moment. But this photo is 'just after.' I find that herons are very entertaining to watch so as you walk past this pond, keep an eye out for a grey heron...
The other 'star of the moment' is the male sparrowhawk that is showing well in the Tree Sparrow Farm. This happened again today and when I saw it, it was in it's favourite tree. It sat there for a bit and then tried hunting on the bird table and in the bushes..but to no avail. It then flew away. Great views however!
And finally for today, tree sparrows having quite a natter in the sunshine this morning. Where else but in the Tree Sparrow Farm...
That's it, have a lovely evening.