Hen Harrier and North Linc's goodies.

Sunset over the Outdoor Pursuit Pit,Barton.

A trip over to look for the reported Pallid Harrier in the heart of the Lincolnshire Wolds at Ruckland,materialised into what we had expected,a Hen Harrier!,we managed to get some excellent views of the bird as it hunted several strips of game cover,putting beyond doubt even any remote chance of this bird being a Pallid.No doubt the 2 bird theory will raise it's head,but it seems bizarre that no other observers have come across a Pallid,only the 2 observers claiming it.Other birds here included a Peregrine and a handfull of Common Buzzard.Putting thoughts of our escapades in the Wolds behind us,i met up with Dave and firstly made a quick visit to the patch to look for the reported Rough-leg,which also turned out to be a load of bull,with the bird being the pale adult Common Buzzard which has been around for at least a couple of years in the area.So after another set of stringing we went over to Barton and managed to connect with a REAL bird at last,the male Ferruginous Duck,which was eventually seen on his favourite pit,giving superb views.Nearby we also managed to see the juv.female Scaup on the Pursuit pit,1 Bittern at Far-Ings,giving us a great flypast and 5 Goldeneye.As we were returning to the car Neil rang to say he had just found a Lesser Yellowlegs at Alkborough,so we shot over and managed some nice views of it before it got too dark,as it fed in a flooded field just before the main hide.This my 3rd in Lincolnshire after birds at Gib Point and Killingholme Haven.So this latter sighting coupled with the impressive spectacle of thousands of Golden Plover and Starlings swirling around the reserve after some unwanted attention from a Peregrine,made for a fitting end to a long day in the field.