On Wednesday 18th August with the continued presence of the Black browed Albatross at RSPB Bempton Cliffs and as one of our team still had not seen it, a trip was planned. Along with Chris B, Kevin C we left earlyish and the news on the way was that the bird was still present helped our cause. As we arrived all that changed, news that at 8am the bird had flown out to sea was not well received! We met up with Dave W at New Roll Up viewpoint and dug in at 9am for a wait until it returned! We were entertained by Gannets, Kittiwakes, and various gulls, Swallows, a very close female Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and then a Peregrine Falcon sat on the cliffs surrounded by Rock Pigeons. It was a lovely morning which soon became afternoon, then after missing a passing Arctic Skua, 2 Pomarine Skuas passed by at a reasonable distance. At 5pm after an 8 hour vigil we gave up on Albert the Albatross and yes he did return the day after!
On Sunday 22nd August, me and Bob K went to Frodsham No 6 tank in Cheshire, these were dug to infill with the sludge from the bottom of the Manchester Ship Canal. They are a haven for lots of waders and wildfowl for most of the year. A rare wader in the form of a Long billed Dowitcher had been present for a few days, we began to search through hundreds of Black tailed Godwits that had returned from their breeding activities in the northern parts of the world. Snipe, Lapwings, Knot, were seen but no Dowitcher. We returned to the car for lunch and met an old friend, Kevin Hughes in his 80`s and still going strong. Then as we contemplated our next move a couple of birders came down from the tank and said that the Dowitcher had been found. Along with Frodsham regular, Bill Morton, we began to search the birds again and Bill found the bird, it was distant against the back reeds with lots of Redshank. I returned to the gathered birders and put them on the bird on another sunny day.
This Friday 29th August, yesterday`s finding of a White tailed Lapwing at RSPB Blacktoft Sands, Yorkshire had Kevin and myself heading over after positive news earlier. This is a very rare bird and only 74 miles away! The relatively quiet M62 soon had us in Goole and arriving at the reserve around 9-25am, the car park was almost full and a delightful reserve lady ushered us into one of the few remaining places. We managed to squeeze into one of the hides and after 30 minutes the White tailed Lapwing finally, showed itself after hiding (feeding) behind a large island. Lots of Green Sandpipers, Snipe, and Ruff were also enjoyed, a long queue was forming outside so we headed for another hide to give people a chance to see the bird. At Marshlands hide only 6 people were present as we arrived, then a sudden influx of birds, then birders, only meant one thing the White tailed Lapwing had flown in! Better views of the bird were enjoyed in the hustle and bustle of the hide. We also met an old birding friend Nibber we had a good laugh with him. Time for home, the M62 struck back as we got stuck in the west bound lane for 1.5 hours due to a smash and fire burnt car accident, hope they survived.
