As you know we have just returned from a birdwatching break on the Moray Coast. We were blessed with good weather and good light which is equally important to us. We saw 80 different species with one life record. It was the pictured bird which is a Lesser Yellowlegs an American visitor. I did not take this picture the ones I took were too far away to let you see it properly. In this picture the legs of the bird appear to be orange I can assure you they are yellow just like is says in the name. It was a very approachable little bird and let us get really close. This bird has been a thorn in our sides for the last 18 months. It is very rare for one to be on this side of the pond but there was one on Stiffkey Fen in Norfolk in 2005 that stayed for about 3 months in early spring. We were hoping to see it when we went down in at the beginning of May that year but the little devil flew off on the Thursday two day before we arrived. When we heard this bird was in just before we left we thought no not again, it had moved to another location but had only moved about 20 miles down the coast so this time we did not dip out (that's a birding term meaning missed the bird). We had a great week all told with good views of many seabirds and were able to sit in the sun and watch instead of braving a gale or rain. We will certainly go back to this area in the future as you can get so close to the sea with the car and therefor makes life easy for us. Looking forward to the arrival of the geese now but they are very late this year must have had a good summer in Greenland and the North.
Total for the year is now 180.
Take care
Love
Joan.
I'm glad to hear you saw the yellow legged bird. That one in Norfolk was a crafty little soul wasn't he?! I got really into watching birds when I was in Borneo, they have so many over there, every tree is ful of brightly coloured ones! Jeannette xx
ReplyDeleteJoan glad you managed to catch sight of the "Lesser Yellowleg" I am so glad you both had a good week with plenty of sunshine ~ must be so nice to be able to watch the birds from the comfort of your car ~
ReplyDelete180 Birds Joan does that equal what you saw last year or have you any more to see yet ~ hope you have a lovely weekend ~ Ally
Hi Joan, I`m so glad you finally saw the Lesser yellowleg at last. I was hoping you managed to see some birds on your break. :o)
ReplyDeleteSandra xxxx
I think all the geese have landed further south, we are inundated with them around here. So pleased you managed to see this rarity in the British birdworld.
ReplyDeleteLove Sylvia xxx