Today I spent the day at one of my favourite places, the RSPB’s reserve at Blacktoft Sands. The great thing about this reserve is that it’s not ‘in your face’, there’s plenty of comfortable hides in easy walking distance, there’s no ‘experience’ being rammed down your throat but there is info available if you want it. Blacktoft does get some ‘twitchers’ birds’ but on the whole it’s a breeding ground and a spot for migrants to rest and refuel, a place to see plenty of wetland birds very well. Anyway, it was peaceful and warm, just the job for doing some drawing and for simply being close to nature.
There were all the birds you’d expect to see here, dunlin, ruff, redshank, greenshank, lapwing, plus a few Blacktoft specialities, avocet (of RSPB logo fame), bearded tit and spotted redshank, but no marsh harrier – maybe a bit windy for them today. There was the added bonus of a spoonbill, unusual enough, however this bird had been ringed (i.e. had plastic identification rings put on its legs) as a chick in Holland two years ago, so a bit of life history to add interest.
I was glad of a few years of birding experience to identify the many wading birds present. Present in all stages of plumage, summer, winter, adult, juvenile, and all points in between. So I felt for a mum with her 3 children, trying to identify the birds when she couldn’t even understand the order used in her field guide (divers, grebes, shearwaters, etc.) – a free gift for new members of the RSPB! You do learn the crazy taxonomic order over the years, but it doesn’t exactly encourage newcomers or the young. In future, I’ll be far less scornful of field guides ordered by size, colour or habitat.
Click on the link the see the other sketches I did today – Blacktoft Sands Sketchbook.
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