Egg-cellent Bird Hunt!

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Egg-cellent Bird Hunt!


We set off at 3:00am and arrived at RSPB Middleton Lakes at around 6:00am in hopes of seeing the rare Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Once we arrived at the site, there was another birder there who said that the Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers were often seen in the oak trees opposite the car park. We waited in the car park, and after a few minutes, we heard one drumming. It took a while, but we eventually located the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the middle of the oak tree. It showed incredibly well, before eventually flying off. Soon after the Great Spotted Woodpecker started drumming in the exact same spot! Overjoyed with our views, we made our way to Whitemoor Haye for a rare grebe.


We arrived at Whitemoor Haye at around 8:00am in hopes of seeing a Slavonian Grebe. As soon as we arrived at the site, we noticed multiple singing Yellowhammers. We walked further down to a gap along the road and started looking for the bird. As I was scanning, I noticed a flash of gold in the distance. It was the Slavonian Grebe. I was ecstatic to see this bird as the last one I saw was two years ago, and it was in winter plumage. This was my first summer plumage Slavonian Grebe. Pleased with our sighting, we made our way to RSPB Fairburn Ings. 


We arrived at RSPB Fairburn Ings at around 2:00pm in hopes of seeing Cattle Egrets and Spoonbills. As soon as we arrived at the site, we noticed a Willow Tit at the feeders by the Lin Dike car park. We then made our way to Lin Dike Hide.


Once we arrived at Lin Dike Hide, three birders there pointed out a few Cattle Egrets hanging around the cattle. There was also a distant Great White Egret near the cattle too.


As we were watching the egrets, two Spoonbill flew in and landed close by the hide, allowing me to get some amazing record shots of one of my favourite birds. 


On the way back to the car park, I spotted a late staying Pink-footed Goose, as well as multiple singing Chiffchaff. Finally, we made our way RSPB St Aidan's.


We arrived at RSPB St Aidan's at around 3:30pm in hopes of seeing Black-necked Grebe. As soon as we arrived, we scanned the sleepers around the miners, looking for the resident Little Owl, but to no avail. We then made our way to the reedbed, spotting a few Pochard along the way. Once we arrived at the reedbed, we immediately noticed a pair of Black-necked Grebes extremely close to us in amongst the reeds. As we continued along the reedbed, we spotted many more Black-necked Grebes. Overall, we counted around 3-4 pairs of Black-necked Grebes. We also spotted a Little Grebe, as well as a few Great Crested Grebes, including a pair doing their courtship display! As we made our way back to the car park, we also spotted a Barn Owl. More than satisfied with our sightings, we called it a day and headed home. 

Overall, a great day birding with many rare breeding birds seen. 







Location: H7MP+39 Tamworth, UK

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