An enjoyable 3 hours at Blacktoft sands (1 Viewer)

An enjoyable 3 hours at Blacktoft Sands Hello,

Main reason for going was in the hope I'd see either a Little Stint or Curlew Sandpiper, or better still both!

The weather was sunny and quite hot with a slight breeze, thankfully.

Arrived at 15:20, only an handful of cars were there, so there wouldn't be a queue to get in any hides.

In total I saw 26 bird species and quite a few dragonflies, the latter of which remained unidentified.

This is what I saw:

Wood Pigeon
Magpie
Crow
Gadwall
Teal
Mallard
Lapwing
Snipe - 50+
Redshank - lots
Greenshank - 12+
Spotted Redshank
Ruff
Dunlin
Marsh Harrier
Moorhen
Curlew Sandpiper - 6
Black-tailed Godwit
Green Sandpiper
Kestrel
Avocet
Tufties
Grey Heron
Pied Wagtail
Pheasant
Cormorant
Shelduck

All in all a good day, especially seeing the Curlew Sand'. Left at 18:30.

Regards B

I like the reserve too. It's a 200 mile round trip for me but I like to visit several times a year as usually there are several different species about from what we get a little further north.

I was there two weeks back - the day before the Buff-breasted Sandpiper turned up! - and managed a pretty good list for the day, much the same as yours. I was a little disappointed to see only two Avocet but the three Bearded Tit made up for that.

was there the other day, very similiar list but got goldcrest as well up by the ousefleet hide

Yes a really good reserve which is in range of some other very good birding sites. Wish we were so well catered for up North! Brian

IanF said:

I like the reserve too. It's a 200 mile round trip for me but I like to visit several times a year as usually there are several different species about from what we get a little further north.

I was there two weeks back - the day before the Buff-breasted Sandpiper turned up! - and managed a pretty good list for the day, much the same as yours. I was a little disappointed to see only two Avocet but the three Bearded Tit made up for that.

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Hi Ian, James and Brian,

Thanks for the comments.

I rarely go to the Ousefleet hide, it's a long walk, and seems even further when nothing is there. There is plenty to see from the other five hides.

Kept scanning for the Beardy, but alas it kept out of sight. The only time I've seen them is when we went on a "Bearded Tit" walk with a member of staff, starting at 08:00. On that occasion we saw lots of them.

Regards