30th August. Blacktoft, Hatfield and a Dogger.

There's only so many Yellow-legged Gulls that anyone person can stand and for me one is far too many. Order of the day was a change of scenery and given that it was bank holiday it had to be somewhere that would be twat free! So on reflection Blacktoft wasn't a good choice. However it wasn't that busy probably because it was virtually bereft of avian life forms. This was the first time in my memory that I've not even managed to see a single Dunlin here!


I know Blacktoft is a 'reedbed reserve but is a little bit of decent mud too much to ask for during August? We did see some very nice Bearded Tits though and pinched some bog roll from the toilets and rebelliously refused to attach that RSPB tag to my binoculars - so there.

Hatfield on the other hand did have waders, okay they were just Dunlin and Ringed Plovers but you got the feeling that any minute now you would stumble across a Baird's or a White-rump though more likely a dead tree. Several Hobbies and a Marsh Harrier brightened up the dull afternoon but the Red-necked Grebe was either hiding or gone. Whilst having a sit down and having a final scan of the Ten Acre Lake we were approached by a rather shifty looking character who asked us if we'd seen anything interesting. When he suggested that he might bring his bird next time alarm bells started to ring. I gingerly enquired as to what kind of bird he had as horrible images of some twenty stone beast awaiting a good time in his car flashed through my sick and twisted mind. Fortunately he told me it was a Harris Hawk but on returning to our car and seeing his learing grin I had my doubts.