Yesterday I had a day off of sixth form (every other Tuesday I have no lessons) so I decided to make the most of one of my last opportunities to go birding this spring - upcoming A Level exams mean that I temporarily won't be birding as often as usual - and headed down to Beddington Farmlands. I met up with Dodge early morning and Anand joined us a bit later. Once Dodge had gone home around midday, Anand and I stayed on the mound for about another hour before heading for home via the Phase 3 Wet Grassland - a massive scrape that is still progressing in its stages of development on a private part of the site. As we went round Phase 3, we took a quick detour so I could show Anand an area of trees that is starting to grow back after being cut down many years before our time at Beddington. We were cautious with our approach because the surrounding space is a sensitive area for breeding Lapwings. We both simultaneously looked left onto a bed of water (Bed 53) and what we both instantly locked onto shocked us totally. We were is disbelief! Feeding actively right in front of us was a female Black-winged Stilt!! We took a couple of snaps on our cameras and then backed away so that we were out of sight and not bothering the bird. The last thing we could do was flush it. Immediately the panicked calls started. I phoned Dodge to come back, whilst Anand phoned other Beddington birders too. Thankfully, the bird showed consistently well on Bed 53 and every Beddington Bird Group member that came to twitch it connected, including my mum who was absolutely delighted. Many of us had predicted one would turn up this year but we all thought it would appear on Phase 3. Once everyone had got the bird, Anand and I could attempt to get some better pics of the bird. Unfortunately, once most people had left again, my camera broke. The on off switch snapped off! So no more pics of the Stilt for me, but still enjoyable to watch nonetheless. There has been no sign of it today per other Beddington birders. The only other record of a Black-winged Stilt here at Beddington Farmlands was on the 17th of August 1955. So, unsurprisingly this was a patch tick for possibly the entire current BFBG (Beddington Farmlands Bird Group). So glad to have shared this experience with Anand and to see the Beddington Legends come and twitch our find. Just a shame it was not in an area where the public could have accessed. I wonder when the next one will be?
Female Black-winged Stilt pics:
