A text from Rossendale birder Sarfraz H with news of a Stone Curlew, a rare breeding species in the UK, being present at RSPB Fairburn Ings sparked me into twitch mode Grabbed my gear and off I went, it was 10am, thinking to myself it should take an hour plus to get there and then as I got to the top of the M62 Lancs/Yorks border the carpark struck. Nose to tail all the way past M1 and A1 at 11am I reached Fairburn having done 49 miles!! Luckily the Stone Curlew was still present and the bird showed very well to the small but appreciative crowd. I have only seen this species in the south of England, Suffolk & Cornwall, nice to see one Up North though. A quick look at the Spoonbill, Little Egret nesting area was nice with a Green Sandpiper also flying around. After checking a bird information site I saw that the Stilt Sandpiper was still present at Alkborough NR just north of S****horpe.
Well, I was more than half the way there anyway, so I thought I may as well go to see the American wading bird that has been present for the last few days. Upon arrival at Alkborough nature reserve (Its where the River Trent and the River Ouse flow into the River Humber) I saw lots of birds were flying around and I then saw why, a Peregrine Falcon hunting for a meal! About 15 birders headed towards me saying that they had waited about an hour for the Stilt Sandpiper to appear and now it had been flushed by the falcon. I took my place in the bird hide and waited for its return, managed to see a Bittern flying just over the hide that had birders running outside! A few Marsh Harriers, Water Rail, 22 Spoonbill`s, Little Egret`s, Black tailed Godwit, Ruff, Dunlin, Curlew, Whimbrel, Redshank, Lapwing but the Stilt Sandpiper was not seen. After 2 hours sat in the hide, there was a sudden flurry of activity as the sandpiper appeared about 30 yards in front of us. What a beautifully marked bird it was well worth the long wait. I watched it as it had a small nap then it began to feed and show its extra-long stilt legs. As I left the hide a female Sparrowhawk took off just in front of me dont know who was most spooked? The M62 was fairly kind apart from the usual Leeds IKEA junction, reaching home by 6-45pm. Very enjoyable day out!
