UKC

Spoonbills from Monday, and a few more of the Montagu’s harrier. 

Think I'll probably go to Marshside & HOM on Friday - being realistic I have zero expectation of the Montagu's still being there.

Where were you seeing all the birds of prey from? the "raptor viewpoint" up the bank on the far side of the old works (opposite the main hide) or elsewhere?

Sand plant and raptor viewpoint. 

I’ll keep you posted if I hear of its whereabouts. Rumours of it being spotted at Wharton bank (near Preston), Longton Marsh and Banks. At least one sighting can’t be right, given the ‘time spotted’.  

Great sightings and photos. 

I think you answered that in your other post on raptors with other birders missing the ID? With my lack of experience I would most probably miss this MH and sure even experienced birders could miss some rarities at least for some time. (Thinking of that Spotted Sandpiper that I was told took 5 days (?) before it was correctly identified).

Anyway, thanks for putting up the photos. I’ve not been out as much this year, but been trying harder recently. Will try and post a few photos later in the week.

Been some good birds up your way - bridled tern!  I’ve dabbled sea watching at Fife Ness. It’s very difficult and an acquired taste!  It’s quite hard birding where I go, with many things at distance, but when a fellow birder at Fife Ness told me ‘sooty shearwater, moving left, about half a mile out, moving past a wind turbine (there’s loads of turbines),’ and it’s dipping in the wave troughs……

I'm sure I miss merely uncommon birds let alone rarities all the time - I doubt I would have realised that Harrier was a Montagu's (my initial assumption would be Hen) unless I'd had a very good view that showed the narrower wingtips very clearly and even then...

In breeding plumage an adult spotted sandpiper should be an almost instantaneous identification. It's a sandpiper that's nicked a thrush's belly 😁

I might try some sea watching when I'm in Cornwall in September, but it's a real learned skill that takes time and I'm disadvantaged by not having a full size scope (I would think your new toy would be suitable - the binocular eyepiece would be ideal).

I can remember in Anglesey seeing loads of Shearwaters at distance but there's no way I could say that they were all Manx, or actually that any individual was definitely Manx. Just relied on the fact that there were loads going past so chances were that the vast majority would be Manx. All sorts of other Shearwaters could have been amongst them without me noticing.

My scope is so good it actually attracts rarities into its field of view.  Seriously though, on minimum zoom its 10% sharp and crisp, and full zoom only minor blurring. On Saturday I walked from HOM into Banks and stood where we last chatted. I could make out some spoonbills on the other side of the Ribble, even with some heat haze. It did take some detective work though - some smaller pure white birds got up for a fly about (had to be little egrets) leaving some larger pure white birds behind. Also, a group of 18 spoonbills, first recorded by me, hadn’t been seen at HOM for a while, and they must have gone somewhere. 

A Bridled Tern would have been an excellent find had I been lucky enough - a lifetime bird for most birders. I understand it didn’t stay long anywhere in the Forth. I did bump into a chap that had very briefly seen it at Musselburgh … as it was flying away back to Fife side!

Not been to Fife Ness this year as I don’t have the equipment for sea watching. I recently was down by the Forth and with the help of FBC members saw a Sabine’s Gull and (apparently) I saw a Cory’s Shearwater 😎! With my bins I could see the Shearwater shape and its easy of gliding, but beyond that I’m glad there were experienced birders there to point it out.

Made me think once more about I should be getting a scope as it really is needed for sea watching/sightings. Also places like Angle Park as I have difficulty with seeing birds there. Think I will get one for next year once I think more about magnifications, tripod head requirements, etc. I don’t have the steadiest of hands so will need a solid tripod and I guess some kind of panning head to minimise touching the scope. Something to think about over winter.

The S Sandpiper in east Fife last year didn’t have spots and I think in the early days was assumed as a Common Sandpiper by those that saw it. I think I posted a photo on here last year, another below.

I vaguely remember you posting about that - certainly tricky without the spots - I think the main "something wrong here" clue would be the leg colour, but you might not notice that in the field.

The one we had locally 3 years ago had the spots - unmistakable once you could see it properly.

Forgot to tell you from 3 weeks ago - although you may already know - Foulshaw Moss had a second Osprey pair this year and their nest is much closer, close enough for me to take some poor but easily identifiable digiscoped shots through my scope (and close enough to be able to identify the juvenile from the parent), but with a decent camera/lens setup you'd be able to get some cracking shots.

Might be too late this year - hopefully they'll come back next year.