This afternoon I finally managed to get up to Wombwell Ings and Edderthorpe Flash to twitch a couple of good birds that have been up there recently.
The target of Wombwell was a pectoral sandpiper that has been up there for a few days, but sadly after much scanning we failed to find it. The best there were about six greenshanks and a few snipe.
Then on to Edderthorpe Flash, where we arrived around 6.10 and decided we’d give it until seven to find the elusive spotted crake that has spent a few weeks up there. As the light faded and the clock ticked we started to fear that we’d dip both birds, but at least an overhead hobby was a good bird if it didn’t show. It got close to our self-imposed deadline, but at 6.59 another birder shouted “It’s here!”. We watched the crake pottering around in good view of the bench, giving a brief but good performance in the fading light! A cracking bird, and well worth the wait.
