What a tern out! Recent sightings

What a fantastic week of sightings we've had at Fairburn Ings this week! Personally, I've seen three new bird species this week; cuckoo (I've only ever heard them before but was treated to a calling fly over by a cuckoo as I stood on the balcony of the visitor centre), black tern and spoonbill (I kept missing the one that appeared last summer, but patience served me well and I saw it this time!)

I had fantastic views of the black terns on Tuesday evening from Bob Dickens hide. Three were preening on the edge of one of the islands in Main Bay when I arrived, but after a few minutes, one of them took flight.  Wow. They are so graceful in flight, small, agile and delicate beside the more substantial black headed gulls they were flitting past. There have also been arctic and common terns this week!

Common tern thanks to David Tipling (rspb-images.com)

Our cuckoos went a bit quiet during the cold weather, but all the recent sunshine has rejuvenated them and we've had lots of visitors getting great sights and sounds of them! The Coal Tips Trail and the Lin Dike Link are the best spots to see them nip from tree to tree or to really hear the distinctive call.

Cuckoo thanks to John Bridges (rspb-images.com)

Our cutlery-faced friend, the spoonbill, has been giving us the run around a bit this week, mostly turning up in the moat, and visible from the coal tips trail as if you're looking into the heronry.  Which, whilst we're on the subject, the heronry is fantastic at the minute with great views of cormorant and heron chicks (almost too big for their nests now!) and also the little egret nests. I saw one snuggling down on to the nest in the rain on Wednesday, thanks to our ranger volunteer, John, who had spotted it with his telescope.  Our rangers, out nearly every day, are a mine of information, and really helpful in spotting wildlife. If you see them around the reserve, have a chat and they'll be more than happy to show you what's what!

This illustration by Mike Langman (rspb-images.com) shows the sweeping head movement of the spoonbill when it feeds.

Also this week on the reserve there have been garganey, sanderling, turnstone and green sandpiper!

Blue tits are nesting on camera on the screens in the visitor centre again this year too. The chicks are tiny at the minute but it still looks really uncomfortable for the parents when they sit on them to keep them warm!