Hi,
Visited Fairburn Ings today in search of the White-winged Black Tern that has been present there for a couple of days now. On arrival I was told that it had been seen earlier but had now disappeared, probably onto another part of the reserve. I went to where I had been told it might be. Just as I was nearing the hide a guy came towards me walking rather quickly, he told me there was a Cattle Egret just to the right of the hide. As I got to the hide that too had disappeared, not my day I thought. But after about a ten minute wait it suddenly jumped up to stand on the back of a cow that was lying at the edge of a reeded area, fantastic.
After spending some time watching the Egret there was still no sign of the Tern, so I decided to go to the original place. Still not showing but an adult Mediterranean Gull was some consolation. After a while, news came that it had just dropped onto the area where the Egret was, making my wait there as fast as possible, this time my luck was in and it was sitting just out to the left. It soon had a fly around to show off its plumage before disappearing once more.
So what had started as I thought was going to be a day of missed opportunities, turn into a brilliant days birding.
Trev
Visited Fairburn Ings today in search of the White-winged Black Tern that has been present there for a couple of days now. On arrival I was told that it had been seen earlier but had now disappeared, probably onto another part of the reserve. I went to where I had been told it might be. Just as I was nearing the hide a guy came towards me walking rather quickly, he told me there was a Cattle Egret just to the right of the hide. As I got to the hide that too had disappeared, not my day I thought. But after about a ten minute wait it suddenly jumped up to stand on the back of a cow that was lying at the edge of a reeded area, fantastic.
After spending some time watching the Egret there was still no sign of the Tern, so I decided to go to the original place. Still not showing but an adult Mediterranean Gull was some consolation. After a while, news came that it had just dropped onto the area where the Egret was, making my wait there as fast as possible, this time my luck was in and it was sitting just out to the left. It soon had a fly around to show off its plumage before disappearing once more.
So what had started as I thought was going to be a day of missed opportunities, turn into a brilliant days birding.
Trev