Today Dave, Ken, Roger and I
set of Elsham in Lincolnshire to hopefully see a Thayer’s Gull that had been
present from the 3rd. When we
arrived there were a few birders scanning a field where there were gulls
roosting but Thayer’s was not with them.
There were more birders scattered around the area and there were plenty
of gulls but there was no sign of the Thayer’s.
An Iceland Gull was observed in flight but all of us failed to get on it
and eventually we decided to call it quits and head off to Blacktoft
Sands. The juvenile Thayer’s was only
reported once all day when it apparently flew over.
When we arrived at Blacktoft
Sands we had lunch before going to the centre.
There was a second-year Little Gull feeding over one of the lagoons
close to the centre and we saw at least seven Marsh Harriers and two
Avocet. We decided to walk east going to
the furthest hide, Singleton Hide.
From here we had some superb
views of Marsh Harriers, particularly a second-year male. We also found a Red Kite and three
Sparrowhawk soaring in the distance.
Dave then saw a Bittern flying low over the reeds and we all managed to
get on it and watch it fly a considerable distance and at some height before
dropping down close to the
river. Ken then found a single male
Bearded Tit, which performed well on the edge of the first reed bed; distant
but still nice views.
We eventually returned to the
centre where we had a second Bittern, closer this time but not for so long.
Dave wanted to go to Swithland Reservoir as he had not seen the Black-necked Grebe and Kittiwake yesterday and both were reported as present today.
Second-year male Marsh Harrier
Second-year male Marsh Harrier
Second-year male Marsh Harrier
Second-year male Marsh Harrier
Second-year male Marsh Harrier
Second-year male Marsh Harrier
Second-year male Marsh Harrier
Second-year male Marsh Harrier
It did not take too long to
find both the Black-necked Grebe and Kittiwake at Swithland Reservoir and we
also had a pair of Mandarin, a Peregrine, a Raven and three Swallows during our
short stay.
Pair of Mandarin at Swithland Reservoir
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