Nice trip to Titchwell RSPB.

The three of us decide we need a day birding, so it's up to leave at 5.30am and drive to Norfolk for a visit to Titchwell RSPB, we arrive around 7.20 & head towards the freshmarsh.

A Grey Phalarope had been seen over the last few days & it was seen within minutes of arrival. It was close to the path giving us great views of this funny little bird.

The work that has been done on the marsh, putting in more scrapes & Islands looks like it will attract loads of waders a great job.

A pair of Pink-footed Geese fly overhead for a year tick, that just shows how little we have been out under the covid rules, trips to the coast being few & far between. 

Our last trip out was to St Aidan's RSPB for the Long-toed Stint at the start of the month

There were a load of birds on the marsh, hundreds of Golden Plover, Avocet, Black & Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot, Ruff, Lapwing & many Dunlin. Later we pick out Greenshank, Grey Plover, Turnstone & Curlew. As we walk up to the beach Brian spots a single Guillemot on the flood close in, we think it is not well but as we watch it dive a few times before it flies off back out to sea.

Upon the beach, we soon make contact with the Purple Sandpiper that was walking along the beach.  The bird was very accommodating & came very close for some good photos a nice year tick. While on the beach a single Snow Bunting runs towards us and then 12 more land but fly off quickly.

Loads of Sanderling are running up & down entertaining us. Red-throated Diver also Common Scoter that is a year tick that tells how much we have been out this year.

5 Red-breasted Mergansers fly past & they give me a tick as I missed the one that swam past at the Long-toed Stint twitch.  

So a rare trip out this year but so welcome on a pleasant morning and I end up with a few years ticks.

Purple Sandpiper

Grey Phalarope

    

                                          

Long-toed Stint at Swillington ings. ( Lifer )

Brian had been watching the news about the small bird that had dropped in at  Astley lake on the reserve at Swillington ings near Leeds.

The bird had been identified as a Least Sandpiper & I need that for a lifer, but the boys didn't, so the chance of going over 3 hours is not on but things change when the bird is re-identified as a Long-

toed Stint now all three of us need to tick this mega as there have only been two other sightings in 

England, so when news comes through that the Stint has been seen early morning around 8.30 we get a call to meet up at Brians & we are on the way by 9 o'clock.

It's a clear drive & we arrive at 12.15pm. The place is packed with cars parked all the way up both sides of the road & we head into the reserve to find the place packed but we get lucky when a car pulls out & we are in like a shot.

It's a long old walk before we meet up with hundreds of birders & get ourselves on the end of the line without too much trouble & the bird is on a small island in front of us to give all 3 of us another lifer.

We spend a fair while watching the bird looking to pick out what we had read up about the bird on the way up here.

Never went anywhere else so it's straight back in the car & head off for home feeling really good with ourselves as we have had a bad birding year and are only going for Life ticks because the year list is way down with the covid stuff.

This could be Jimmys 400th bird tick so a really good day, he is counting it as 399 because he is still waiting for the Black-eared Wheatear to be given the green light.

Me looking at the Stint

The Stint

Just a few of a mega crowd