Ferrybridge suffered from the gloom produced by the morning cloud cover and a total of 6 Curlew, 2 Sanderling, 1 Yellow-legged Gull and 3 Wheatears were the best of the offerings at dawn; an improvement later saw the year's first Curlew Sandpiper show up, along with 18 Curlew, 5 Common Sandpipers and a Merlin.
We've been very pleased that Nick Hopper has been able to make it down to spend a couple of nights engaged in some 'proper' nocturnal recording effort. Nick's first report covers the night before last - 20th/21st August: It was a night completely dominated by Tree Pipits; until midnight numbers of birds heard were able to be estimated, however after midnight the birds started to arrive in waves and so call counts were resorted to - by the end a total of 611 calls were logged!
Dunlin and Ringed Plover were also moving in numbers with regular calling throughout the night from apparently single birds to decent sized flocks. Other birds logged: Spotted Flycatcher 3, Pied Flycatcher 2, Robin 12, Yellow Wagtail 2, Sandwich Tern 1, Common Sandpiper 1, Knot 1 and a flock of Whimbrel.
This juvenile Kestrel was making quite a nuisance of herself around the garden so it was good to finally see her up close and personal © Glenn Maddison
Its always good to catch a potential confusion pairing together for a nice comparison shot, especially when you don't usually get to handle many Tree Pipits, he looks awfully smart compared to the juvenile Meadow Pipit © Erin Taylor:
One of today's Redstarts at Southwell © Nick Stantiford:
