Forgetting to write the recent sightings blog for the past week has paid off after the brief visit of a Greater Yellowlegs!
This rare north American vagrant shot over the visitors centre and was seen looping around to the west but was lost after that.
From talking to others earlier, it seems this bird has been doing a tour of reserves in the north (coming from the south coast of England, saying that doesn't seem strange).
Credit for this sighting goes to the two chaps who knocked on the door of the farmhouse earlier so thank you very much!
We'll keep our eyes peeled for it tomorrow and hope that it re-appears! This reserve seems to be making a habit of visits from accross the pond with the Sandhill Crane and Green-winged Teal coming to mind...now we're just waiting for the Bald Eagle to turn up!
For all gull fanciers out there, we have an Iceland Gull again and after getting carried away with the warm weather during the week the Black-headed Gulls seemed to have calmed down a bit.
As well as the 'mega' bird earlier waders, continue to enjoy the exposed mud on the Low Ground. Our Ruff was still around today and for those with telescopes it seems to be favouring the area of mud near to the corral (temporary structure of gates and plywood for konik handling). What was odd though was to see a Snipe make a determined effort to shoe off the Ruff by apparently sneak up behind it and attack it, but that didn't have much effect.
There are also at least 6 Redshank around and I had a number of Ringed Plover arrive to, the 1st of the year, with a peak count of 3, I think. Oystercathers are increasing and a Dunlin count is needed soon too.
A Short-eared Owl is still here and being as obliging as our original patch-winged one was!
The white stoat of earlier blog notoriety is still viewable from the visitors centre and still quite showy! Its white coat is beginning to diminish and now a thick brown line down the centre of its back.
A good week with a good ending! Just for a finishing touch, here's a picture of Rattray Head Lighthouse with a funny cloud behind it!
Hi Michael,
Thanks for that info. Yes, we think this is probably the same bird that was seen at Druridge Bay in late 2011 and then spent the winter at Loch Fleet in the Highlands. Obviously, we'll never be sure, but the dates when it was seen and the faily slim change of two being in the north east together over the winter makes us suspect it's the same bird.
The Yellowlegs, if the same bird was found in Northumberland last year (Nov of the top of my head) and was an adult (again of the top of my head). It left and an adult (presumed same bird) turned up on the coast north (?) of Inverness. A juvenile was in Cornwall in Autumn 2011 too.