Out of County!

With the continued prevalence of South-westerly winds across the country, littering parts with American waders and the occasional passerine and a dearth of an Easterly flow or even anything from the South, Dave and I decided to head further afield. Not to Aberdeen or the far South-west for any 'real' ;) ticks, but to Lincolnshire for a 'real' birders bird - the American Black Tern, that had been present for a while now.

On-route we made a dawn stop off to experience an amazing gathering of Stone Curlews. Even in the dawn light, with an atmospheric mist possibly effecting the full count, we still manged to muster over 100 birds. Strangely, considering how vocal a species these can be, an eerie silence emitted from the field!

Onwards to Covenham Reservoir in Lincolnshire and we were soon watching the subtle, yet distinctive American Black Tern, currently treated by most authorities as a distinct sub-species, but not a full species. Even in 1st winter plumage the comparative darkness of the non-contrasting upper parts were evident, as were the dusky grey flanks and pale underwing.

(look out for some 'real' flight pics that will appear on gobirding.eu/Diary/Diary!)

After a period the bird landed and showed exceptionally well.

Also present were two confiding Little Stint, as well as two Ringed Plover:

An imm Marsh Harrier and one, maybe two Common Swift passed over.

From here, we thought we would take the opportunity to catch-up with the adult Sabine's Gull and Grey Phalarope at Grafham Water (the Gull was reported flying west, but we hoped it was still around, although we finally concluded that it wasn't). A slight mis-calculation lead us to the North Shore, where both inland Shag and Gannet were found!

Reorienting to the dam, the Grey Phalarope, as well as a Ringed Plover and Dunlin were showing well.

A number of Yellow Wagtails were present with Pied Wagtails and included a couple of 'interesting' birds. One we thought was 'definitely' of the headed variety, but whether it was 'just' blue-headed or possibly from the further east we aren't sure!

Contact: E-mail: dnorgate@live.co.uk  Mobile: 07749779149