Swillington Ings Mystery Bird

 Wednesday 18th March a.m.

A beautiful sunny morning with the temperature just 4°C on arrival but soon rising to 16°C.  I spent quite alot of time at Astley Lake where I notice a tiny wader, my first thought was Dunlin but it seemed to be a smaller bird and the bill looked straight.  The nearby BH Gulls towered above this tiny wader, another thought was Little Stint, I took plenty pictures but I'm still not sure of the ID .  I put a picture in to a bird ID site which confused me more when it came back with Baird's Sandpiper? Any suggestions of the ID are welcome.

Mystery Bird

Mystery Bird next to a BH Gull

Mystery Bird with BH Gulls, Swillington Ings 18/3/2026

St. Ives, Bingley

 Tuesday 17th March a.m.

A sunny morning with a temperature of 11°C, the Coppice Pond had aMute Swan, Tufteds, Greylags, Moorhen, Coots & Mallards.  A walk through the woods added Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin & Blackbird, a quiet visit with nothing special on show.

Mute Swan

Tufted

 

Moorhen

Greylag

Coppice Pond, St Ives 17/3/2026

Leeshaw

 Saturday 14th March a.m.

With the sun still shining I went to Leeshaw, walking up the track towards the res I began to wonder where all the birds were with nothing in the field or the dam wall.  The field above the res cheered me up with c20 Oystercatchers, Redshank, Lapwings & Greylags. Others were Starling & a Buzzard, heading back more Redshanks flew in to the field making seven in total plus lower down I added Little Owl, Grey Partridge and a Dipper in the stream.

Lapwing

  

Redshank

Oystercatchers 

Little Owl

Grey Partridge 

Dipper

Oystercatchers at Leeshaw 14/3/2026

Redcar Tarn

Saturday 14th March a.m.

A lovely sunny morning but chilly at just 3°C, plenty large Gulls mainly Herring but a few LBB Gull & BH Gulls.  There were c20 Tufteds not much else with exception of Canadas, Greylags, Coots & Moorhen.

 

LBB Gull

Herring Gull

Tufted

Greylags

Redcar Tarn

Leeshaw Reservoir

 Saturday 7th March a.m.

Here the highlight was my first Redshank of the year which briefly flew into a nearby field.  There were briefly four Pink-footed Geese on the water with the Greylags before two flew away.  The Oystercatcher count was up to 19, there were c50 Lapwings, Little Owl & Curlew. 

Lapwing

Curlew

Pink-footed Goose & Greylag

Pink-footed Goose

Oystercatcher 

Little Owl

Leeshaw 7/3/2026