STILT STEALS THE LIMELIGHT

The big excitement for the majority of Yorkshire listers was the discovery of an adult Stilt Sandpiper at Beacon Ponds, Kilnsea on August 30th, almost 70 years to the day when Britain's first was discovered at the very same site! This latest bird was only the third Yorkshire record, the second being in 1989 when one was present at Flamborough on 2nd July (not twitchable for whatever reason!) before moving to Catwick next day and staying there until a rather premature departure on 4th. Because of this, quite a number of the top County listers had missed out, so the Kilnsea bird was very much an un-blocker, being seen by a good 500 people.

Stilt Sandpiper, Beacon Ponds, August 2024 - John Hewitt