Redcar Tarn

Sunday April 28th a.m.
A dull sky at Redcar Tarn with a temperature of 7°C on our arrival,getting out of the car we
were nearly blown over by the very strong blustery wind.This made taking picture difficult but
we carried on & managed to get some starting off with LBB Gull,BH Gull,Coot,Tufted Duck &
Pied Wagtail.Other birds present were Mallards,Canadas,Greylag,Common Gull,Jackdaw,Rook
& Lapwing.We walked down to the pond seeing a Redshank here and in a field beyond there was
an Oystercatcher with some starlings.We walked back & a short way along Tarn Lane to see if we
could get a bit closer to the Oystercatcher but was now out of sight as the field dipped away.There
were some more Lapwings here then scanning the wall we spotted another Pied Wagtail & next to it
a male Wheatear, a first for us at this site.
c50 - BH Gulls
2 - Common Gulls
3 - LBB Gulls
8 - Canadas
1 - Greylag
c40 - Mallard
5 - Lapwing
1 - Oystercatcher
3 - Pied Wags
20 - Tufted Ducks
1 - Redshank
1 - Wheatear
plus others

LBB Gull

BH Gull first winter

Coot

male Tufted Duck

female Tufted Duck

Pied Wagtail

Redshank

male Wheatear

Redcar Tarn Gulls

Leeming

Saturday April 27th a.m.
 When we arrived at Leeming there was some sunshine with the temperature up a bit to
3.5°C. Walking along the road at the side of the dam the first birds we spotted was a
pair of Rooks in the field also here after scanning with the bins were 18 Mipits. On the
water we saw Mallards and a Coot which was a first for us at this location, the two
Redshanks were back but no sign of the Goldeneyes,Swallows were feeding low over the
water.We saw a couple of flighty Willow Warblers, at the top end of the reservoir we saw
a Pheasant, a Song Thrush was singing & we spotted a Reed Bunting in a tree,another first
for us at this site.We started to head along the path towards the road when a Kestrel flew
overhead & landed in a nearby tree,out came the camera,at which point it moved and hovered
in hunting pose. This was great to see, the closest we've been to a Kestrel with cameras in hand,
just one drawback the sun was behind it making a good picture difficult,still we got a few.As we
moved off a dark cloud appeared shortly followed by a shower as we made a hasty retreat,on
the way to the car seeing Chaffinch,Greenfinch,Dunnock & House Sparrow.

Kestrel

Redshank

Two Redshanks at Leeming

Leeshaw

Saturday April 27th a.m.
 This morning had a wintry feel with a temperature of 2°C at Leeshaw & with sleet
showers conditions were difficult for birding.We still saw some good birds with
there being Canadas,Greylags,Mallards,LBB Gull,Curlew,Lapwing,Oystercatcher &
Pied Wagtail present.We just saw one male Wheatear with four Cormorants jockeying
for position on top of the tower.Also we were pleased to see 3 Redshanks on a wall
which was close enough for some snaps.We then went to Leeming report to follow.

Cormorant

LBB Gull

Canadas on the move

male Wheatear, trying to keep warm

Redshanks

good to see 3 Redshanks together

Four Cormorants all wanting the top spot

Leighton Moss Round Up

From Tuesday April 23rd
 I moved from the hides by Morecambe Bay inland to the main visitors center past the new
building work to Lilian's hide, not a lot to report here other than very loud BH Gulls.I quickly
moved on going through some woodland seeing Blue Tits,Coal Tits,Chaffinch,Wren,Willow
Warbler & Chiffchaff. In to the reedbed with some warm sunshine now and all the above birds
singing making for a very pleasant walk to first Griesdale & then Tim Jackson hides.From these
I could see a pair of GBB Gulls,Teal,Wigeon,Shoveler,Black-tailed Godwit,Tufted Duck,Lapwing,
Little Egret,Mute Swan.It was also good to see two pairs of Greylags with their Goslings.
 I then went back to the visitor center for some lunch then onto Public hide rounding the trip off
seeing Great Crested Grebe,Pochard & a male Marsh Harrier.

male Chaffinch

female Chaffinch

Blue Tit

GBB Gulls

Willow Warbler

male Marsh Harrier

Little Egret

Greylag with Goslings

Gt C. Grebe

Nuthatch

Leighton Moss

More from Leighton Moss

From Tuesday April 23rd a.m.
 Also in good numbers were Redshanks I counted 74, there were two feeding the others
were in three groups some on a bank pictured below & the rest were sheltering at the edge of the
lagoon out of the wind.The usual BH Gulls were plentiful as well along with Cormorant,Shelduck,
Oystercatcher,Pheasant,Swallow & a distant Pintail. NP.

Redshank

Cormorant

Oystercatcher

Shelduck

Pheasant

31 Redshanks

Leighton Moss

Leighton Moss Black-tailed Godwits

From Tuesday April 23rd a.m.
 The highest number of an individual species seen on my visit to the RSPB Nature Reserve
at Leighton Moss was the Black-tailed Godwit. I saw them first from the Allen hide in two
large groups, very difficult to estimate how many , I would say 750+ looking fantastic as they
come into their breeding plumage.When I moved to the Eric Morecambe hide I was even closer
to them, then something spooked them & they lifted, circled on mass then came back down as
one  large flock.What a treat to see this awesome sight making my trip well worth it, here are some
of the pictures I took. NP.

Black-tailed Godwits

A wonderful spectacle of Black-tailed Godwits