Some birds you think you will never get the chance to attempt to see again in this country and White-tailed Lapwing was such a bird.
After travelling all the way up to Caerlaverock in Dumfries And Galloway,Scotland,in June 2007 and being painfully told that the bird had gone,i thought that was it for me....but fast forward to Thursday 26th August and a gripping Whats App message from birding buddy Arash,to say one had been found at Blacktoft Sands RSPB,only 20 minutes from my work....there was a couple of problems,i had no birding gear with me and also i didn't finish work until 2.00pm.
A painfull rest of my shift ensued as i tried to busy myself with my work and try and not think of the exotic Peewit up the road.
Finally 2pm came around and i drove as fast as i could home,dashed in the door,got changed quickly,grabbed my gear and i was back on the road again in 5 minutes flat.
I eventually made it to the reserve to a smiling Adam Hutt,with his usual wit,saying 'Where have you been all morning?'...work i said unfortunately.The good news was that the bird was still here....thank f...
A quick show of the RSPB membership card and a short walk and i was in Townend Lagoon hide.
To be fair it wasn't too busy and after a few minutes i was onto the bird,unfortunately watching it at some distance as it roosted in amongst Black-tailed Godwits and Ruff.
First views showed the sandy brown upperparts,pale head ,longish black bill,dark brown breast band,pale belly and those long,gangly legs,as it preened.
Suddenly without warning,it had a barnie with a Godwit,disappeared out of view for a few minutes and then thankfully flew in,right infront of the hide.
The bird then showed incredibly well and i concentrated my efforts on taking some frame filling video through the scope and also took a few stills.
I have to say that this was quite a smart bird,but it looked like it was going through some active moult,with the scapulars,coverts and head looking slightly untidy,but it still made for a very neat bird and it was so good to put it to rest seeing one after all these years.
This is the first record for Yorkshire of this very rare Plover and only the 7th record for Britain,the first being at Packington Gravel Pits in Warwickshire from 12th to the 18th July 1975.
It also joins two other Yorkshire first 'Waders' for the site,which incidentally,were also national firsts at the time,with Hudsonian Godwit being seen in September 1981 and Red-necked Stint in July 1986.
After enjoying fantastic views,i left for home allowing others to come in the hide and enjoy this smart bird.
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| Video Grab Of This Smart Bird. |
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| Phonescoped Image Of The Bird Roosting In Amongst The Ruff And Black-tailed Godwits. |
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