Friday 15th May: Spoonbill !
After heavy overnight showers what's left of the floods were looking a bit better this morning. The RINGED PLOVER were still present and had in fact been joined by a fourth bird. There was also a COMMON SANDPIPER opposite the Burgess Field gate. Also a lesser black-backed gull was a rather unusual sighting for this time of year.
I was just making a quick scan of the fields to the north of the floods when I spotted a distant white bird. Thinking that it was a little egret I got my scope on to it whereupon I immediately realised that it was a SPOONBILL. It was located close to the large mound due north of the Burgess Field gate and it's large flat spoon-shaped bill was clearly visible with yellow markings on the end. I also noted some ragged feathers around the head which could have been it's crest feathers. I immediately put the camera on the scope and was zooming in in order to take a photo when the bird took off. It flew to my right (i.e. to the east) where it was at once lost to sight behind the trees that run along the Burgess Field ditch. Spoonbills are a rarity in the county with the last one apparently having been seen about ten years ago and apparently only about four seen in total since 1970. Despite an extensive run all over the Meadow this lunch-time and searching the ditch that runs along Burgess Field NR, there was no sign of it.
I did get an e-mail from Roy Grant saying that whilst he was out on the Meadow last night he did see a bird on the floods which he had taken to be a little egret though he'd not checked it closely so it could have been there since yesterday evening. However, I subsequently got an e-mail from Steve Clark saying that there was a LITTLE EGRET on the floods yesterday afternoon so that is a more likely candidate for Roy's bird.
From private e-mail (JG):
Went down to the meadow later (about 3-5)and everything had cleared off, including the waders. However I did have a herring gull for a few minutes, and a female WHEATEAR on the west side of the floods which perhaps showed characteristics of Greenland-type though could not be certain.
Not as much of a coup as a record shot of the spoonbill would have been but this digiscoped common sandpiper taken in the rather gloomy light came out comparatively well © Adam Hartley
A better photo of the ringed plovers this morning © Adam Hartley
I was just making a quick scan of the fields to the north of the floods when I spotted a distant white bird. Thinking that it was a little egret I got my scope on to it whereupon I immediately realised that it was a SPOONBILL. It was located close to the large mound due north of the Burgess Field gate and it's large flat spoon-shaped bill was clearly visible with yellow markings on the end. I also noted some ragged feathers around the head which could have been it's crest feathers. I immediately put the camera on the scope and was zooming in in order to take a photo when the bird took off. It flew to my right (i.e. to the east) where it was at once lost to sight behind the trees that run along the Burgess Field ditch. Spoonbills are a rarity in the county with the last one apparently having been seen about ten years ago and apparently only about four seen in total since 1970. Despite an extensive run all over the Meadow this lunch-time and searching the ditch that runs along Burgess Field NR, there was no sign of it.
I did get an e-mail from Roy Grant saying that whilst he was out on the Meadow last night he did see a bird on the floods which he had taken to be a little egret though he'd not checked it closely so it could have been there since yesterday evening. However, I subsequently got an e-mail from Steve Clark saying that there was a LITTLE EGRET on the floods yesterday afternoon so that is a more likely candidate for Roy's bird.
From private e-mail (JG):
Went down to the meadow later (about 3-5)and everything had cleared off, including the waders. However I did have a herring gull for a few minutes, and a female WHEATEAR on the west side of the floods which perhaps showed characteristics of Greenland-type though could not be certain.
Not as much of a coup as a record shot of the spoonbill would have been but this digiscoped common sandpiper taken in the rather gloomy light came out comparatively well © Adam HartleyA better photo of the ringed plovers this morning © Adam Hartley