The Lincolnshire Bird Club

10.00-1.30pm

Spoonbill - one still showing well , viewed from Singleton Hide
plus including:

Ruff - some of the males still with vestiges of summer plumage
Black-tailed Godwit -most still in summer plumage
Spotted Redshank
Dunlin
Redshank
Green Sandpiper
Little Egret
Avocet
Greenshank
Marsh Harrier


Freddy

Hi Freddy

Your report seems like a good day to me. Other than the odd spoonbill in Lesbos and perhaps Titchwell (I really cannot remember) I think Blacktoft Sands is the only place I have seen spoonbill. Always roughly at this time of year and always asleep!

I wonder if anyone can tell us if these are return visitors or the at least descendents?

Chris

Chris,

The Spoonbill has breeding colonies in The Netherlands and I particularly
remember spending some days in May 1970 on Texel watching the birds at their nests around the Muy Lake. It is not unexpected,therefore,that
the East Coast areas are most frequently visited on summer passage -
North Norfolk, Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire in particular.
I watched 3 birds at Gibraltar Point in July 2002 and I believe that site also
has its fair share of summer passage Spoonbills.Let's hope the present
visitors [there have been 2 at Blacktoft recently] are the precursors of a
future breeding population.

P.S.-The bird at Blacktoft on 31 July was quite active and was seen feeding,preening and also in flight in one of the day's 'panic attacks' as a
male Marsh Harrier flew over.

Regards,

Freddy

P.P.S.--Sorry about the weird spacing but my wife/typist is out visiting.


Freddy