Tophill Low, Sunday 18th August 2024.

 After contemplating for a few months on upgrading my binos, today was going to be the day, visiting Tophill Low for the In Focus optics event.....and of course to test the new kit out after purchase.

As the optics event was not until 10.00am, i decided to have a walk first, along an area i had never covered before. This was along the Beverley & Barmston drain up to the River Hull at Wilfholme Landing and back, taking in Watton Nature Reserve on the way.

A few nice bits were seen including a Great-white Egret, Barn Owl, 2 Greenshank and a single Green Sandpiper.

By the time i arrived back to the car it was nearly time for the BIG spend.

As i patiently waited, i scanned D Reservoir for anything of note, picking up a fairly early female/juvenile Goldeneye, which gave distant views.

Eventually Bernie arrived from In Focus and he got me my pair of the brand new model of Swarovski 10x52 NL Pure binoculars.

First looks through them were just wow!, the field of view and brightness were incredible and the ergonomic design and the way they fitted into your hands really nicely was a great plus, along with the balance too.

I was blown away how good these binoculars were and i never thought i would look through a better pair than my EL's, but these just blew them away.

After paying for my binos, i was off and after bumping into Simon and Dawn Pierce, we wandered around to South Marsh East to look for the reported Blue-winged Teal.

After a short while i picked the bird up at the western end of South Marsh, so we walked around to the other hide.

The bird then showed nicely on and off, giving some great views, in my opinion of this eclipse male. It showed a fairly strong head pattern, with a solid dark crown and more defined Loral spot and eye stripe than the 1st winter female i found on my patch in October 2021.

Other nice sightings here included 20 Green Sandpiper, 4 Greenshank, a Kingfisher and 2 Common Sandpiper.

It gave me some great chances to do some phone-scoped video, of which i will attach to this post.

After enjoying my fill i walked back to the car and had a steady drive home with my new purchase well and truly tested out.

Beverley & Barmston Drain

Phone Pic Of A Green Sandpiper, South Marsh.