Waders at Blacktoft

On duty at Blacktoft on Sunday. Weather wise it turned out to be warmer than I expected. Lots of visitors, some of whom had come to see the pectoral sandpiper. Having visited Frampton Marsh on Saturday it was interesting to be back at Blacktoft and compare the two sites. Both sites have construction work going on, a replacement hide at Blacktoft and a new cafe etc. at Frampton.

Both sites are low on water, which is to be expected at the moment. so it is nice to see rain falling as I write this blog However, welcome though the rain is it only tops up the water level and does not comtain any food. The ffod for the birds comes from the water from the Trent and we need a high tide. Frampton is situated close to The Wash and I always expect to see more waders. Blacktoft is situated inland up the Humber estuary and therefore has a lower chance of passing birds.

I was pleased to see the following waders: pectoral sandpiper, dunlin, redshank, spotted redshank, green sandpiper, greenshank, curlew, ruff, black-tailed godwit, avocet and lapwing, more than I saw at Frampton. Whinchats and stonechats were to be seen in the paddock where the ponies are and yellow wagtails from the screen at Ousefleet.

These were the waders at Marshland early morning.

the pectoral sandpiper was busy feeding

It was nice to see avocets back on the reserve

The team have been working hard to maintain the water levels on three lagoons and there was a good mix of waders at Townend.

a water rail was having an early morning walk around the edge of the lagoon.