A pleasing number of records for this secretivespecies were submitted. Birds were seen from January to April and from September to the year-end. In the first winter period singles were regular at Otley Gravel Pits in January and February with up to three birds observed at Stockbridge in January followed by an individual here in March and at Marley Sewage Works and Elland Gravel Pits in January. A single bird was seen at Elland GP in February and one was at High Royd Sewage works from January until March.

In the second winter period up to two birds were regular at Stockbridge from 13th September until late December. Otley Gravel Pits played host to up to three birds in December.

Twenty-five records is now about average for this skulking species and came from three new sites, as well as the regular ones.

In the first winter period, a single bird was seen at Otley Wetland in January with two in February. January also produced two birds at Esholt Sewage Works, and Sandbeds Flash, a new location, had a bird at the end of March. In contrast, High Royd Sewage Works, in the south-west corner of the recording area, has long been a reliable location, and two birds were present at the end of February, and up to three on several days in the following month. In the same general area, there was an increasingly infrequent record of a bird at Elland Gravel Pits on 27th March.

Two birds were seen at Stockbridge Nature Reserve on 5th October, with three by the month-end, and one was seen or heard irregularly to the end of the year. About this time, a bird was heard at St. Ives (another new site) on 5th November, and the Aire Valley had another record, with a single at Marley Sewage Works on 14th December. The final month also produced records of two birds at Otley Wetland, three at High Royd Sewage Works, and a single at a private site, where the species has been previously unrecorded.

The loss of two regular sites for this species, following the reorganisation of the Group recording area, has been offset by the inclusion of two others, which produced records this year. In all, 45 reports came from six locations, including Stockbridge Nature Reserve, undoubtedly the stronghold in the area.

As usual, most of the records originated in the winter months, and up to four birds (and possibly five) were seen or heard at Stockbridge on many dates between September and December. Intriguingly, however, a juvenile bird was back on the very early date of 13th August, with three birds present in the following week, which might suggest relatively local breeding. The second winter period also had two records of a single bird at Otley Wetland, including a colour-ringed individual on 22nd November, a bird at Cononley Ings on 24th November, and another on the same date near Skipton Sewage Works.

The comparitively few records for the first three months of the year all comprised individuals at the locations already mentioned, and on single dates at Marley Sewage Works and Silsden Ings. It is clear that there has been a drop in the numbers of birds seen at Otley Wetland, and, coupled with the loss of habitat at Esholt Sewage Works, and the mid-year removal of access to Marley Sewage Works, it is inevitable the Group will be heavily dependent on Stockbridge for records in the future.

As predicted in last year’s Report, the Group is now almost entirely dependent on Stockbridge Reserve for its records of this species, and all but three of the reports in 2007 came from there. Birds were seen or heard in the first three and final four months of the year, and comprised between one and three birds.

Only one record came from Otley Wetland (in October), there was a November sighting at Snaygill, and an unusual and welcome report from Bingley South Bog on 11th December. All involved single birds.