Page 4 - Out Birding August 2022

Event Reports
Staveley Reserve 19/03/2022
Seven of us had a lovely day exploring this Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve just north of Knaresborough, a GBC fixture in the calendar and always worth a visit. The community orchard, which you walk through from the car park, has certainly grown since our last pre-lockdown GBC outing.
Although we didn’t see any of its treasures such as an otter or Water Rail, Pat (who was a little ahead of the rest) managed to spy the Willow Tits, one of the reserve’s specialties, and the same bit of woodland, appropriately called Willow Wood, also gave Treecreeper, a solitary Redwing, a Bullfinch calling and various other tits. We were treated to two male Kestrels that seemed to be chasing each other. By the end of the day we had accrued 45 species, which is about par for the course there. The feeders were not filled though, and we didn’t see the usual numbers of Reed Buntings, and no Yellowhammers, though we were happy to watch the Tree Sparrows, Greenfinches and other finches and tits at the feeders.
Staveley has extensive wet areas, with a number of lakes, so we saw lots of wildfowl including Goldeneye, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler – which were very active, chasing each other in a spring-like way – Tufted Duck, Shelduck, and some beautiful Cormorants in breeding plumage. There were Lapwings flying, Oystercatchers, and Maureen spotted a very concealed though very close Snipe in the grass just in front of the main hide. We just about all managed to see it through the ‘scope before it mysteriously glided further into the grass and disappeared. This hide is large enough to hold a whole classroom of schoolchildren and is always warm; it’s a straw-bale build, and makes a good spot for a picnic lunch.
Newly arrived Chiffchaffs overlapped with a few remaining Fieldfares. We walked around the back of the West Lagoon, along the path that runs by the River Tutt, and in the process got closer to Red Kites, and Buzzards, heard a Goldcrest and also got closer to the duck and waders which favour this side. The West Lagoon is a newer habitat than the East Lagoon, which developed naturally post-quarrying and has reed swamp, scrub and flower-rich grassland. The West Lagoon was used for agriculture after quarrying, so the YWT has been working hard to create a hay meadow on former arable land and has also put up a Sand Martin wall. We were too early for these but in a few weeks, there will be masses of hirundines and warblers to see.
Rachael
Lake of Menteith and The Trossachs 09/04/2022
The plan for this event was to explore various spots in the scenic Trossachs, starting at Lake of Menteith. We met up near Stirling to car share and decided to stop in at Flanders Moss en route. Flanders Moss is one of the largest remaining raised bogs in Britain and has a viewing tower for looking out over its large expanse. But it was a short stop, as we were very exposed to a biting NW wind and there were few birds to see. The event was billed as ‘looking for signs of spring’ but we weren’t going to find any on that windswept bog!
So we drove on to the Lake of Menteith, passing a flock of Pink-footed Geese. The nippy wind was still in our faces when we arrived but some hardy spring migrants were back, as hoped. I was still setting up my scope when John spotted an Osprey which
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