By way of a change to our regular east coast haunts all five of us decided to have a trip into Lincolnshire. The fact that Long billed Dowitcher, Red necked Phalarope where there, made it even better because one of the team needed both these species!
At 6am we all piled into Chris B`s people carrier and were soon on our way (biggest person in the front, guess who?) The satnav somehow took us right to Covenham Reservoir, where the Red necked Phalarope was last seen. Now some of the lads have not been there before and when they saw the exact size of it appeared visibly shocked. Thoughts of us having to tramp a long way to see the phalarope were soon dispelled as after a 100 yards or so it was found only 10 yards away and close to the shore. Camera`s out and time for some serious clicking! A nice selection of waders all afforded close views with 2 Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin and 5 very showy Little Stint`s. The phalarope whizzed around feeding, as they do until the whole flock of birds flew farther away from us. We all enjoyed such a close encounter with the birds, it was time to move on.
ALong billed Dowitcher was on Paradise Pool in Saltfleet, an area none of us have really visited before, it was only 10 miles from Covenham Res, so it was not so hard to find. The pool was soon located and the Dowitcher was feeding on the pools edge firstly, with a Common Snipe and later with a Black tailed Godwit and good size comparisons were made. Another new bird for one of our number. We had a good wander around the bushes near to the saltmarsh and a few of the more common warblers were seen.
News of a Yellow browed Warbler at MOD Donna Nook had us searching the area without success, but a flock of Tree Sparrows and a few Yellowhammers were very nice. Three Cattle Egrets had been found by a couple of birders who we saw stood near to the road. They also told us that a couple of Whinchat`s had been seen. We saw the egrets as they emerged from a gully and also managed to locate a couple of Whinchat`s, bit of a result really. Our final call was at Rimac, an area famous for Lesser Sand Plover, Alpine Accentor and lots of rare or unusual birds. Its a few years since any of us have visited the area, so, upon arrival, I began waxing lyrically about where I had seen this and that when, the warden stopped to talk to us. It only turned out that we were not even at the right place, I got that wrong then. We found the real Rimac and began searching for a Snow Bunting, now this involved walking about a mile straight out over the saltmarsh. It was an enjoyable walk, but my shoes did not like it as they had turned into sponges! Only a flock of Starlings for company also. It was a really nice day out in an under watched county with some great locations. We got home at around 5pm
