Waders - Part1

AVOCET   Recurvirostra avosetta   Rare passage visitor
1995 -  A single at Horton Bank Reservoir, found by Terry McEvoy on his ‘local patch’ and reported to the Group, gave us a new addition to our specie’ list. It was watched scything the silt by many observers between 26th and 29th April.

COLLARED PRATINCOLE   Glareola pratincola   Vagrant
1992 -  A bird recorded at Thornton Moor Reservoir was accepted by YNU, but not BBRC.
GREY PLOVER   Pluvialis squatarola    
Infrequent passage visitor

Seen most years from 1987 to 2008. Most recent sightings:
2009 -  A poor year, with just one record: a bird at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 21st August.
2010 -  An excellent year, with 11 birds seen on autumn migration. Following one over Kex Gill on 12th September, singles were seen at Thornton Moor on 19th and 26th September, and 10th, 13th and 20th October. In the same month, four birds flew over Soil Hill on the 17th.
2011 -  This year’s five records are above average, and all were of passage birds. A bird at Warley Moor on 29th August was followed by one on 11th September, and another five days later over Oxenhope watchpoint, where one was also seen on 20th November. The 28th of the month produced the final bird on Soil Hill.
2012 - A poor year, as only two birds were seen, both passing Oxenhope watchpoint, on 18th September and 8th October.
2014 -  There were two records, both from the Oxenhope watchpoint. The first was a bird that crossed from east to west on 27th September and the other passed the observer on 20th October. These were the first Grey Plovers since 2012, when two records were submitted. 
2015 -  As in 2014 there were just two records, both from the Oxenhope watchpoint. The first bird was on 8th October and the second three days later.
2016 - A single bird passed Oxenhope Watchpoint on 17th October
2017 - Individuals on passage were seen in October at Caldene Fields on the 4th and Oxenhope on the 15th.
2018 - A bird was present at Warley Moor Reservoir on 16th August.
Dotterel.                                        photo: Mike Bloomfield
Grey Plover at Warley Moor Reservoir in 2011                  photo: Brian Vickers
DOTTEREL   Charadrius morinellus    Rare passage visitor

2004 -  After a gap of five years, it was a good find for the observer when four were on Rombald’s Moor on 3rd May. Another was found on 15th on the same moorland..
2005 -  Recorded for the second successive year, though not at the traditional stopover point of Rombald’s Moor. Two males were found on 9th May at High Brown Knoll on Midgley Moor, just inside the Group recording area.
2007 -  Dotterel has now become much less than annual. The sole record concerns a bird seen in appalling conditions on Round Hill on 4th May.
2008 -  Another year with just one bird: on Soil Hill on 27th April.
2011 - A welcome, if brief, return: five birds spent a short time on Rombald’s Moor on 4th May.
2014 -  There were just two records. Two birds spent a couple of days on Blubberhouses Moor on 23rd and 24th April and a single bird was seen with Golden Plovers and Lapwings at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 20th October.
2016 - After a good run of records in the 1990’s, this species has become distinctly irregular, so a report of three birds at Draughton Heights on 22nd April was most welcome
KNOT   Calidris canutus    Scarce passage visitor
Seen most years from 1989 to 2001. Most recent sightings:
2002  As last year, there was only one record, and again at Thornton Moor Reservoir, where a bird was seen briefly on 3rd November.
2003  One was at Cold Edge Dams on 22nd August.
2005  After a blank year in 2004, three birds flew north-west at Roils Head on 26th August. This, like most of the recent records, came from the south of the area.
2006  Most records of this species come from the south of the recording area, and in the latter part of the year. Both applied this year, when Warley Moor Reservoir had two birds on 29th October, until flushed by a Merlin, and one on Christmas Eve.
2007  The only record was a bird seen at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 17th November.
2010  By no means an annual visitor, four were seen at Thornton Moor on 10th September, followed by one on the 29th.
2011 One was at Warley Moor Reservoir on 19th May.
Two records totalling four birds are reasonable, given the poor conditions for stopovers. All the birds passed Oxenhope watchpoint: one on 28th August, and three more on 9th September.
SANDERLING    Calidris alba    Infrequent passage migrant
Seen most years from 1989 to 2003. Most recent sightings:

2006 -  Sanderling is by no means annual, so five records are very welcome, and the minimum six birds seen in total represents the best year since 1996. All the reports came from Thornton Moor Reservoir, by far the area’s most reliable site for the species, and initially there were two birds on 20th May. The remaining sightings occurred in an excellent 12 day period from 27th July, when an adult bird was found, and was still present on the following day. Two birds, possibly including the original one, were there on the 29th, and a different juvenile/1st-winter bird two days later, to be followed by another adult on 7th August.
2007 -  Seen for the second successive year, there were three records, all in May, a typical month for the species. A bird was found at Thornton Moor on the 11th, two were at nearby Lower Laithe Reservoir on the 24th, and Thornton Moor had another the following day.
2009 -  After a blank year, Thornton Moor again turned up birds, with a single on 5th May, two on the 24th, and another on 5th September.
2010 -  In a good year for waders, birds were seen for the second successive year at Thornton Moor. There were two on 29th May, and a single on 19th August.
2011 -  In a productive year, Warley Moor had a near monopoly of the records, all of them, typically, in May. One on the 5th was followed by seven on the 19th, and five on the 22nd. Two on the 21st, and a single on the 23rd may have been part of the larger gatherings. Elsewhere, Thornton Moor had two birds on the 4th, and one was at Leeshaw Reservoir on the 20th.
2014 - Two birds, the first birds since 2011 were seen on Keighley Moor Reservoir on 16th August, at a time when there was a large amount of exposed shoreline during major redevelopments.
Sanderling at Lower Laithe Reservoir in 2007.  
photo: Brian Vickers

2015  A single bird was present for two days at the end of July at Keighley Moor Reservoir. This was the second consecutive year this species has been reported.
2016 - May is a typical month for this species, and a bird was found at Thornton Moor Reservoir on the 9th.
2017 - A bird seen briefly at Yeadon Tarn on 30th April was a good find.
2018 - An excellent showing for an increasingly scarce visitor, singles at Warley Moor Reservoir on 7th June and 22nd August, and two there on 4th August.
LITTLE STINT    Calidris minuta    Infrequent passage migrant
Seen most years from 1987 to 1999. Most recent sightings:
2000  The only record was of two birds together on a wall at Chelker Reservoir on 24th September, possibly grounded by heavy rain.
2001  A group of three birds was present at Lindley Wood Reservoir on 24th September.
2002  The only record this year was a single bird at Chelker Reservoir on the typical date of 30th September. The bird was sleeping amongst Golden Plover and Lapwing on the spit at the west end of the reservoir, and observations were curtailed when it was flushed by a noisy vehicle on an adjacent road.
2004  A single was found at Kex Gill Quarry on 2nd May.

TREMINCK'S STINT    Calidris temminckii    Rare passage visitor
1993  A welcome addition to the Group’s last and arguably THE bird of the year, it was present at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 2nd September during the evening. The same bird was briefly early the following morning.

PECTORAL SANDPIPER    Calidris melanotos    Vagrant
1987  A single bird at Chelker Reservoir on 20th June could not be found the next day
2006  Not seen since the Group’s inception year of 1987, this second record involves a bird at Cononley Ings on 9th and 10th September.
CURLEW SANDPIPER    Calidris ferruginea    Scarce autumn passage migrant
1990  Two records. Singles at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 23rd August and 1st October, the first being a moulting adult and the latter a juvenile.
1991  A party of five paid a fleeting visit to Thornton Moor Reservoir on 25th August.
1992  A juvenile remained at Fly Flatts Reservoir for 20 minutes on 16th August and two were at Silsden Reservoir five days later.
1996  The presence of a single juvenile at Chelker Reservoir on 28th and 29th September was obviously associated with the same meteorological conditions that induced the influx of Little Stints into the Group’s area.
1999  All 1999 sightings were of single birds only – on 20th August at Beaverdyke/John o’Gaunt’s Reservoirs, and on 20th September at Thornton Moor Reservoir.
2005  A timely drop in the water levels at Thornton Moor Reservoir produced a good crop of waders on autumn passage, including this species, not recorded since 1999. On 1st September, four birds arrived with Dunlin and departed shortly afterwards, and another two, both juveniles, were seen the following day.
2013  A juvenile at Warley Moor Reservoir on 12th September was the first bird since 2005 and only the 6th record for the area. As usual the bird only stayed briefly.
2018 - In a generally good year for waders, a bird located at Scargill Reservoir on 14th August represented the first since 2013, and only the seventh in all.
PURPLE SANDPIPER    Calidris maritima    Rare passage visitor
2002  A new species for our recording area, this bird was alongside the moor road to Whetstone Gate from Bradup on 28th August, and had been there since the previous day. It was feeding on the verge where a stream had overflowed onto the road, and was most confiding, allowing very close views. It was a juvenile bird, moulting into first-winter plumage, and close examination of the bird prior to ringing, showed that it was a male of the Greenland race. It remained faithful to this site for at least four days, possibly making this the second-longest staying Purple Sandpiper in inland Yorkshire.
  
2006  The Group has done well to have two records of this coastal species. This second one concerns a 1st-winter bird found on Soil Hill on 12th November, and which, despite appalling conditions, was still present the next day.
Purple Sandpiper at Soil Hill in 2006                                  photo: Sean Grey
Ruff (right)                                                                       photo: Brian Vickers
RUFF    Philomachus pugnax    Uncommon passage visitor

Seen most years from 1987 to 2010. Most recent sightings:
2010 -  A species not recorded since 2006, one was seen at Thornton Moor on 29th July. 
2011 -  After several blank years, birds have now been recorded in successive ones. Outstanding were two breeding-plumaged males at Warley Moor on 27th June, and a juvenile male was seen at Cononley Ings on 15th and 17th October.
2012 - All the records came from Cononley Ings, and comprised a male on 30th January, a different one on 14th and 18th February, and a female on 26th August.
2013 -  Three birds were located at Doe Park Reservoir on 27th September.
2014 -  This was an exceptional year, with ten birds involved. Two males had been present at Cononley Ings in the middle of December and six birds were amongst the large Lapwing flock on 26th December. This was the biggest single group of Ruff since nine birds visited Otley Wetland on 21st and 22nd April 1992. On 4th April a single bird was feeding at Silsden Ings and on 15th December a bird was seen in the fields adjacent to Redcar Tarn.
2015 -  After the exceptional year of 2014 when ten birds were reported, this year proved a huge disappointment with just one record.  It was a bird picked out amongst a flock of Lapwings at Cononley Ings on 30th October. 
2016 - In a reasonable year, it is likely at least nine different individuals were involved, although five of these were in one party at Snaygill on 26th November. The rest were all seen at Thornton Moor Reservoir, and comprised a male on 11th to 14th August, and probably three different females between the 18th and 21st.
2017 - One was with Lapwings near Redcar Tarn on 26th February, and two at Cononley Ings on 15th September.
2018 - All the reports were from the south, where singles were present at Cononley Ings on 6th January, Keighley Moor Reservoir on 4th August, Warley Moor Reservoir on 2nd and 3rd September (BS, BV), and Redcar Tarn on 22nd November.
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