RSPB Blacktoft Sands

Stonechat - Whinchat, a nice side by side comparison.

With migration in full swing there'd been some excellent birding across the site with up to 16 Spoonbills, 94 Black-tailed godwits, 3 Avocets, 8 Spotted Redshank, 66 Little Egrets, 5 Ruff, 8 Green Sandpipers, 6 Greenshank being just some of the highlights.

You have to love this young Sparrowhawk that's been learning to hunt around the lagoons recently. 'Love' is certainly the right term because if you look closely at the breast feathers you can see the love heart shapes that help age it as this years youngster.

There's been some strong contenders for 'prettiest bird' on the reserve today. Redshank, snipe, green shank, green sandpiper, cattle egret, little egret sparrowhawk and peregrine have all been strong contenders. But my vote goes to this male linnet, showing off its red forehead and chest!

If birdwatching wasn't confusing enough here is a probable Little Egret X Cattle egret Hybrid that has been feeding on the reserve for the last couple of days.

Great to see 2 juvenile wagtails flitting around with the juvenile pied wagtails this morning. Yellow wagtails have suffered serious historical declines but populations appear to have stabilised in recent times. They are summer breeders here at Blacktoft nesting in grassy wetlands. It won't be too long before they're heading off to Africa for the winter!

Marsh harriers are usually our star raptors at Blacktoft Sands but sometimes they get upstaged. This juvenile peregrine falcon was practising it's hunting dive recently over the reserve - this time it missed. This superb photo was taken by regular Andy H. as it practised being the fastest animal on the planet diving with speeds up to 200mph. Although this pic was taken a few days ago a juvenile has been reported today chasing after sand martins.

Check out our latest blog here :-
https://community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisit/blacktoftsands/b/blacktoftsands-blog/posts/recent-sightings-highlights-06-08-24

Some people find Mondays rough where as we find Ruff on Mondays, as well as redshank, snipe, green sandpipers and black-tailed godwits. Happy Monday everyone!

Identifying some birds at this time of year isn't always easy, especially when it comes to waders. These 3 spotted redshank lined up perfectly earlier to demonstrate the diffrences in plumage as they move from summer breeding plumage into winter plumage as they migrate to their wintering grounds in southern Europe and Africa. Also spotted this morning bittern, juvenile marsh harriers and bearded t**s.

Although it will soon be time to make hay our Horseshoe Meadow arable restoration field is currently looking superb, with lots of Field Scabious (pictured) attracting Burnet Moths and Bumble Bees. Also lots of Betony and Common Agrimony and even flowering Great Burnet all of which are considered indicators of old undisturbed meadows. What a change in 8 years! There are also lots of Tree Sparrows with young in the hedges and two singing Corn Bunting in the wheat field opposite.

As the juvenile marsh harrier become more confident flying and hunting they'll still hassle the adult birds for food mimicking a food pass. This youngster was screeching at the adult but was disappointed on this occasion. Still ... it was great to see. Other sightings today include bittern, green sandpiper, redshank and spoonbill!

Come see for yourself at our Dusk Discoveries After Hours event details here:
https://events.rspb.org.uk/blacktoftsands

A few waders starting to move through with the better weather today with up to 50 stunning summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Spotted Redshank, 7 Green Sandpipers, 2 ruff, Greenshank, Redshank and a few Lapwing

Well done to Andy and Mick capturing the juvenile cuckoo on marshland recently. Chances are it bred onsite using surrogate parents like reed warbler, sedge warbler or even reed bunting. It will be feeding up ready for it's long migration back to Africa - purely on instinct as it never meets it's parents! It's likely to take 1 of 2 routes - east through Italy or West through Spain back to it's wintering grounds. Let's hope it's back next year to breed!
📷 Andy H
📷Mick B

Nice to see a few young lapwings feeding on site at the moment, this one was on Marshland lagoon getting plenty of food. You can age it by the brownish edges to the back feathers.

Yesterday afternoon one of our juvenile Marsh Harriers decided to come and sit for a short while in front of Townend lagoon.

Another first for the reserve so far this year bringing our total tantalisingly close to 150 Species. This little ringed plover takes us to 148. As a summer visitor it'll be heading back to it's African wintering grounds soon. It was another addition to the ensemble on Marshland hide this morning as juv. water rails, bearded t**s, green shank, spotted redshank, common redshank and green sandpipers continue to show well.

Great to see the first two Greenshank and a male Ruff back from their Northern breeding sites this morning on Marshland lagoon alongside 2 Spotted Redshank, 4 Green Sandpipers, 12 lapwing and 9 summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwits. Also seen on site were Bittern, Great Egret, Bearded T**s and our 3 young Marsh Harriers flying about in front of reception.

Check out our latest blog:
https://community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisit/blacktoftsands/b/blacktoftsands-blog

Great to see the first young harriers on the wing and getting stronger as each day passes.