Blue-headed Wagtail, Alston Reservoirs, 4 May
ANOTHER GREAT FIND BY GAVIN THOMAS, A MALE BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL was the culmination of a nice selection of grounded passerines at Alston Reservoirs. The April rain showers and northerlies had come around a month late but served to stop some northbound migrants in their tracks. At the weekend a lovely gathering of four wheatears and three male Whinchats was near the northwest corner of No.#1 reservoir, the Whinchats hanging around the tiny marshy patch in the sheep field there. More rain followed over the next couple of days and on 4 May Gavin found the wagtail in more or less the same place. It was super shy and I could hardly get within 50m of it by the time I had finished work etc. I was surprised it stayed so long but needless to say it was gone by the next day. It is a big rarity in East Lancashire but there has been quite a good movement of flava wagtails recently, in fact it’s the third I’e seen within 5km of home this year!
The whimbrel roost continues but numbers have dwindled, maybe dragged away to the new roosting spot near Chipping? The heavy rain also brought a Dunlin and five Common Ringed Plovers to the wetland, which lingered until 5 May. Luckily they survived a bombing run by a Peregrine that blasted low across the pools yesterday evening. Summer migrants are nearly all back now, both whitethroats are singing in the hedgerows along the lane and swifts are now a common sight over the reservoirs. The next few days are historically the best for shorebird passage in East Lancs and the water levels at Alston look great. Fingers crossed!
A wheatear forages on the weedy stone banks of no.#1
A few pixels of Whinchat, Alston Reservoirs
A whimbrel zooms in to roost at Alston Wetland
Common Whitethroat singing at Alston