Just a quick update as the crane settles down for another night on the reserve. It spent its time today feeding in various stubble fields before returning at lunch time for a quick wash and brush up before getting back to the serious business of feeding. It returned to roost quite early tonight and was on site from about 6.30pm.
There was a good supporting cast of waders today with highlights being 1 little stint, 2 pectoral sandpipers, 16+ ruff; 1 spotted redshank, 6 greenshank and 9 black tailed godwits.
See you tomorrow!
ETA- Just to say that it's been a great weekend for visitors overall, we've not done the calculations for the visitor counter yet, but there's an awful lot of pound coins collected from the coffee machine... We've had birdwatchers turning up from Kent, Bristol, and (our record for the furthest trip) three people all the way from Belgium. I also managed to bump into a birder from my home patch who I've known by name for several years and never met in person before. Amazing who you bump into on a twitch!
As I'm sure you've all seen far too many pictures of the crane, here's a quick photo of the people behind the cameras (and telescopes) taken by Kathryn at Gowanhill over the weekend.
Diana
Dom