Black-Winged Stilts sighted at Manor Farm/Floodplain Forest Nature Reserve!

A pair of Black-Winged Stilts, Himantopus himantopus, have been seen at Floodplain Forest NR at Manor Farm on Sunday morning, 24th April. This photo was taken of one:

Black-winged Stilt by Mark Appleton, Floodplain Forest NR 24 April 2016

Black-winged Stilt by Mark Appleton, Floodplain Forest NR 24 April 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The birds were seen to mate several times. If this leads to breeding here, and it is successful, it will be only the fourth recorded successful breeding of this essentially Mediterranean wader in Britain. The last two were in 2014 near Chichester in Sussex and in 1987 in Norfolk. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for another breeding success here this year.

Keep your eyes on this website for the latest news on these exciting rare birds in our area!