7 January 2024 - Swine Moor, Tophill Low, Fairburn

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Lesser Yellowlegs, Black-throated Thrush, Glossy Ibis, Red-crested Pochard

A day out with the Lake birders to Swine Moor and Tophill Low, finishing at Fairburn, with some good birds, although the main protagonists were all distant and evaded photography.

The day started at Swine Moor where we traipsed through the quagmire to reach the bank overlooking the marsh. Plenty of waders were present; mainly Dunlin and Redshank, with a few Shoveler and lots of Wigeon. A few Little Egrets were also present, and a Buzzard perched in a bush. After a while, Simon picked out the Lesser Yellowlegs with a party of Redshank in the distance. It was just possible to pick it out due to its slightly smaller size, paler head and neck and yellowish legs, but the views weren't at all good. After a while the waders flew and it landed a little closer, but the light didn't really help much with the views.

We decided to head to Tophill Low to try to latch onto the long-staying male Black-throated Thrush. A few Siskin were around the car park, and we circled the reservoir towards the spot where the thrush had been seen. Shortly after we arrived it popped up in the trees and although we got reasonable scope views, I wasn't able to get a photo. It stayed perched for a few minutes but was quite difficult to see unless you had it in the scope. After it dropped back down we had a walk round and looked on the water. There had been Smew around in the morning but this had apparently gone. We did have nice views of a selection of ducks including a pair of Red-crested Pochards, and plenty of Pochard and Goldeneye, some of which were displaying.

As we left, we stopped by some flooded fields where a decent number of Whooper Swans were feeding, and then headed to Fairburn. A Red Kite en route was new for the year, and we got to Fairburn in the fading light. There had been a Glossy Ibis reported but we weren't sure exactly where, and there didn't seem to be anyone around to ask. However Andrew managed to pick it out distantly on the marsh, where it fed with a couple of Curlew.

Goldeneye (view full size image)

Pochard And Gadwall (view full size image)

Pochard

Red-crested Pochard (view full size image)