Evening friends. Sightings in a moment, but first, an apology to those folk who have tried to contact me by my RSPB email recently. Short version – it’s broken. So, if you have sent pictures or news or questions and received no reply, my sincere apologies. I’ll get in touch as soon as I can.
Right then, back to the business at hand. Here’s the picture from Old Moor today…
For whatever reason, there was a flurry of local news this morning. At Broomhill Flash / Wombwell Ings, (among other birds) there were three dunlin, a greenshank, a ringed plover and a barn owl. There were also two redstart nearby.
John Clarkson provided the picture from Edderthorpe Flash and his tweet, including a short video clip, can be found by clicking here. Thanks John.
And finally, the news from Bolton Ings today included: four little grebe, eleven gadwall, 196 coot, a blackcap, a whitethroat and a grey wagtail.
Still there!
Back at Old Moor, the great white egret was still drawing a crowd of admirers. Today, the bird could be found on Wath Ings and, later in the afternoon, on the Field Pool.
As you’ll see from the summary above, there were also a good many birds feeding above Wath Ings today: house martin, sand martin, swift, swallow and even, at one stage this afternoon, a hobby.
Swallow over Wath Ings
But for me, late summer isn’t late summer without the cheery call of the green sandpiper. Stay in Wath Ings Hide long enough and you’re bound to hear a call that sounds like ‘th'weet eet-eet-eet’ (or something like that).
Most of these birds breed in Finland and Russia and appear here as migrants from late June or, more often, July. The first birds back from their breeding grounds are likely adult females as the job of caring for young is the responsibility of the males.
At a distance these bobbing waders look dark above and white below. Close-up, you can see greenish legs, a dark, mottled back and a white rump with dark bars on the tail. Smart. Something more like this…
A dapper green sandpiper
Look out for them on your next visit to Old Moor. And that’s just about it for tonight I reckon. Until next time.