I know that this is going to sound like a busman’s holiday but yes, I do go birding on my days off! I went over to RSPB Ouse Washes yesterday and there were SO many birds to see! The water levels were just right and the sheer number of birds blew me away. I might as well be honest, the main reason I went was to see this tiny little wader:
Illustration: Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
If you are not sure what it is, it’s a Temminck’s Stint. The tiny little waders (they are about the same size as sparrows!) are rather scarce in Britain and they are most often encountered as passage migrants on the east coast in May. They are rare winter visitors but this bird has been present for a couple of weeks.
I ventured into Grose hide expecting this bird to be a needle in a haystack job and it wasn’t far from the truth! There were plenty of places for this tiny little bird to hide in such a large area of wetland. However, after a bit of searching I tracked down the little blighter feeding on a small island next to a redshank.
The bird was feeding in typical fashion which I often liken to a cross between a common sandpiper and a mouse. The redshank behind it looked as large as an ostrich in comparison to this little chap! We had good views of it for a while before turning our attention to some of the other birds that were assembled in front of us.....................
Three species of wader really stood out: There were around 1000 golden plovers, a similar number of lapwing sand an incredible 2,200 black tailed godwits. Add this to a massive load of wigeon and teal, there really was plenty to see! At various points, the flocks were disturbed and hit the sky. The culprits were firstly a female marsh harrier and secondly a common buzzard.
Most of the whooper and Bewick’s swans feed out in the field during the day but there were still around 50 whooper swans in the area. At one point, a large flock of swans flew up from the other side of the washes. A flock of around 50 grey geese also flew up which I am pretty sure were the flock of tundra bean geese that have been hanging around on or near the washes recently.
I had a great morning out at the Ouse Washes and if you would like to do the same, please visit their website for details: http://bit.ly/wZVh3M