On the journey down to Boston,the last remnants of the overnight rain had passed over and along the way i gained some fantastic roadside views of a hunting Barn Owl at Ulceby Cross,what a beauty!.
After arriving at the reserve car park,i got all the gear together and as on my last visit,headed over to the 360 hide first.
It was a hive of activity looking over the scrapes from this excellent viewpoint as on my previous visit and it was great to see so many birds.There was a constant turnover of species at first,as an unseen predator was flushing the birds,but it wasn't long before one of the culprits was seen,as a stunning Merlin shot across the scrapes flushing birds in all directions.This superb falcon was seen on another 2 occasions giving some equally great views,fantastic!.
I then moved to the hide overlooking the Reedbed Lake were highlights included 25 Ruff,2 drake Goldeneye and the 1st winter drake Scaup which has been present for a while and he gave some nice scope views in between bouts of snoozing.
A quick visit to the car for lunch,then saw me seeing the best bird of the day so far as i left the car....a Little Stint.This unseasonal little wader was heard calling and seen in flight only as all the waders and wildfowl were flushed off the Reedbed Lake,a great sighting for the time of year and a nice surprise.
A look over the wet grassland was impressive to say the least,with the whole area being covered in ducks,geese and waders,the best of which included at least 10 Ruff,200 plus Pink-footed and 2 Barnacle Geese.
While scanning over the scrapes a stunning adult Peregrine was seen coming towards me and gave some cracking views as it passed overhead,what a privilege they are to see.
For the final part of my visit,i walked a big square taking in the farm res,onto the floodbank and then back to the car park,with more great sightings of Wigeon,Lapwings,Curlew,Pink-footed and Brent Geese and also 5 distant grey geese looked like they may have been White-fronts but they were a long way off and i had left the scope in the car,buggar!.
Scanning of the vast saltmarsh from the floodbank saw a distant Marsh Harrier hunting and another Merlin was observed on its lookout perch,patiently waiting for a prey target.
I eventually made it back to the car as the sun began to set and reluctantly left this superb reserve and made my way back home through the Wolds after another superb visit to this gem of a reserve.
 |
| Lapwings over Reedbed Lake. |
 |
| Male Ruff feeding on the main scrape. |
 |
| Supreme predator,adult Peregrine over the wet grassland. |
 |
| Some of the myriad of Wigeon on the reserve,an amazing sight. |
 |
| Dark-bellied Brent Geese,showing well on the saltmarsh. |
 |
| Even closer views of these beauties. |
 |
| What a fantastic way to end the day with this superb scene. |
No comments:
Post a Comment