Saturday 10 May 2008

Hauxley - Lesser Yellowlegs!!

It was late afternoon when I finally headed up the A1 North of Newcastle. A Lesser Yellowlegs had been seen at Druridge Bay pools that morning - not surprisingly, my first port of call. There was not a wader in sight unfortunately but at least two Cuckoos calling on distant fence posts and getting a hard time from the local Meadow Pipits.

Fortune then turned my way, I met a local birder who was just getting the news via his mobile that the Yellowlegs had turned up at Hauxley, a few miles up the coast - we were off.....

It was still there thank goodness, keeping company with a Spotted Redshank in awesome breeding plumage. All the birds were at least 60 metres or so distant so strictly record shot quality!















An obliging landing shot of the Spot Shank after being harassed by the local Shelducks - some things never change!






Med Gull, Long-tailed Duck and the first Terns of the trip were seen here too with this pair of Common Terns - I reckon there might be a few more to come?






The Yellowlegs was bird number 200 for my 2008 UK Yearlist - very early for me to be in this territory and sights are now set on 250?? This will still take quite a bit of effort and good fortune with my 'casual' opportunistic approach to a twitch or two......