Spring forward

An early Dog walk down to the Cliff yesterday paid off with a surprisingly late Eider (P.93, H.74) powering South? The only Bird I saw out to Sea in 20 minutes! Rewarding.

I'd had enough of the East Coast "fret" so guess where I headed?

I arrived around 10.30. John Heaton was already in the GS Hide and he told me he'd seen a Great White Egret over on Bubwith Ings...

John mentioned he'd read my Blog and seen the post on the Hobbies. I joked I'd try and find him one; 20 minutes later...I did! Eventually we were looking at 3, albeit distantly. John was extremely pleased to enjoy this spectacle, as was I.

My decision had paid off in spades as it was a beautiful Spring morning with sunshine and a gentle Southerly. It became apparent that an influx of Great Crested Grebes has occurred...a scarce Species here. After around 30 minutes I was happy there were 6 birds present...a Site record! Fortunately one came really close at Garganey Hide...

A Whitethroat came close and gave me a blast......

A distant Sedge Warbler appeared in the Reeds on the scrape...

John left joking that something would then turn up...again...it did...in a BIG way. I started my umpteenth scan and picked up a pale blob at the far North End. It looked "good"...

View at c1 Mile

...a zoom view confirmed my suspicions...

AVOCET (NDC LIFE 168)

As you can imagine this was a landmark moment for yours truly after 37 Years!!! Probably my most wanted of "likely" additions...and to find it...was doubly sweet. I tried to contact John but there was no reply. The essence of Patch Birding was totally encapsulated...right here. Just to confirm the moment, amazingly another bird emerged from behind a bush!

I then went down to Garganey Hide and joined Pete who was photographing the GCG. I had another excellent hour here chatting about various topics with him, it was the first opportunity I'd had. Again, great company as we shared similar views. During our chat he mentioned he hadn't seen Peregrine for a while. I suggested that they'd probably moved off to breeding areas (although they do nest on York Minster). No sooner had I said that than I picked up 2 Birds again at the North end. As usual they were being mobbed by the dreaded Crows but they did land in a tree briefly before disappearing. A nice bonus.

Gadwall were still well represented and a tight flock of some 30 Birds dropped in close by...

A few Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Pochard are also still present, no doubt due to the higher than "normal" water level. Mute Swans are approaching 50 individuals. A Lesser Black-backed Gull lingered on the Riverbank and a lone Oystercatcher was keeping the AVOCETS company.

A top session.

Year 88