Reading through posts on Bird Forum this morning before Amy's walk to school, I felt a change of plans to the day ahead was imminent. The Marsh Sand was at Alkborough Flats, Lincs, last night and it had been commented on that it could move north over the Humber/Trent to Blacktoft RSPB. Just as I got back from taking Amy to school, the pager went off, "Marsh Sand - Blacktoft RSPB at 9am".
After a quick trip to the other side of Hull for some work stuff, I made the short trip along to Blacktoft, arriving just after 11am. The bird was immediately on view at the back of the Ousefleet Lagoon, often in the same scope view as a Spotted Redshank and Dunlin, with several Bearded Tits feeding at the base of the reeds behind.
I hadn't seen a Marsh Sand since the flock of 3 at Cantley Beet Factory back in 1995 so glad I made the trip and it was another addition to the Yorkshire list. The end of year target of 275 seems a long way off with the summer ahead, just hoping for a decent autumn.
Tuesday 12 July 2011
Tuesday 5 July 2011
What a read!!!
A few weeks ago, we were awoken with a thud onto the door mat. I knew what it was before we even opened the packaging, "The Birds of Yorkshire - John Mather". I'd been searching online for a while for a copy and had had no luck, the local library only had a reference copy and therefore you weren't aloowed to take it home!! Then I found a copy of it on Amazon for £4!!! Alright, so it's not in mint condition but it's 25 years old, so the odd scuffed corner can be forgiven.
I've always enjoyed scanning through books like this and it's one that I'm sure I'll come back to time and time again. One of my most read bird reference books has to be "Rare Birds in Britain 1800-1990 - LGR Evans". This was then updated with "Rare Birds Where and When (Vol.1) - Russell Slack" in 2009, looking forward to Volume 2 when that's published.
There's some great old pictures in the book, Yellow Billed Cuckoo at Spurn in 1978, Song Sparrow at the obs in 1964 and of course this little beauty......
![]()
With a run of 12 records out of 20 nationally being in the county, during the nineteenth century and a further 3 during the 1900s, it got me thinking, when will we get our next record? Must be due, surely.
I've always enjoyed scanning through books like this and it's one that I'm sure I'll come back to time and time again. One of my most read bird reference books has to be "Rare Birds in Britain 1800-1990 - LGR Evans". This was then updated with "Rare Birds Where and When (Vol.1) - Russell Slack" in 2009, looking forward to Volume 2 when that's published.
There's some great old pictures in the book, Yellow Billed Cuckoo at Spurn in 1978, Song Sparrow at the obs in 1964 and of course this little beauty......
With a run of 12 records out of 20 nationally being in the county, during the nineteenth century and a further 3 during the 1900s, it got me thinking, when will we get our next record? Must be due, surely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)