Phew, another warm and humid week with temperatures over 32C in the garden yesterday and still no signs of rain. With water levels dropping in the reservoirs and our grassed lawns turning yellow by the day and talk in the media of hose pipe bans I wonder how much longer this warm spell will last.

I had been planning on driving over to the reserve at Fairburn this morning but decided in the end to travel south to RSPB Blacktoft Sands to see if the Spoonbills and waders were still there. It was about 9.15am as I parked the car in the car park on the reserve, the temperature gauge was reading 18C and it looked like being another warm and sunny day. I called in to the reception hide to have a chat and coffee with the warden before heading out to the Marshland hide. There were several other like-minded people already in the hide by the time I arrived but as this hide is quite broad space was not a problem. I was yet again amazed by the amount of waders that were busily scouring the mudflats and water’s edge in the hope of finding some food. A Snipe was showing nicely in front of the hide, its markings making it quite difficult to see at times especially whilst it was walking across the shoreline in front of the hide. A Grey Heron was contently resting on one of the small islands to the right of the hide, occasionally it would arouse for a scratch and stretch but was quite happy standing watching the world go by. Black Tailed Godwits appeared to be everywhere, a small flock here in front of the hide and several more on the small islands just in front of the hide. I watched several Lapwing and Ruff around the hide, the distinctive green colours on the sides of the Lapwings showing nicely in the morning light. Several Black headed and juvenile Black headed gulls were being quite vocal and making a lot of noise, occasionally they would harass the Grey Heron to the right of the hide but he was having none of it. It was nice to see quite a few Knot about, their distinctive grey colouration making them stand out from the Ruff and Greenshank. On the far islands you could see the distinctive longish red legs of the Redshank, where it not for their red legs it would have been difficult to spot them amongst the Greenshank. It was nice to see some Goldfinches on the shoreline busily pulling the thistles apart in the search for food. One of the highlights of the morning for me though was watching the Yellow Wagtails, a pair of them landed on the mudflats and spent a good fifteen minutes busily scouring the muddy shoreline for food.  There was no sign of the Spoonbills in this hide this morning, well not during my visit anyway, so at about 10.30am I part dismantled the camera gear and headed back to the Xerox Hide, it is only a couple of minutes’ walk.  I like this double decker hide, it is a bit quirky and since my last visit the wardens have cut back the long grass from in front of the hide’s viewing windows which made the visibility much easier. 

I re clamped my camera mount onto the window shelf and had a good look out of the hide windows. I spotted a pair of Spoonbills on the small island to the left of the hide with three Grey Heron and a Little Egret, I wasn’t certain if one of the Spoonbills was a juvenile as it looked to have a Yellow bill. They all appeared quite comfortable and content by the water’s edge, other than a little preening none of the birds walked no more than a metre from where they were standing.

By now the time was getting on and the sun brighter and much warmer, so by noon I decided to pack up the gear and head back to the reception hide for another coffee before the journey home. A great and productive day.