Cheat Birding

I was making my way back from town yesterday when I decided to pop into Black Hole Marsh for the late morning high tide. It was such a last minute decision that I wasn't even equipped with my telescope, but still thought it was worth a quick look...

From the Island Hide all seemed quiet, and no one already in there had seen anything of note. I soon picked up an elegant looking wader in the far corner of the marsh though, feeding near a Common Sandpiper.  Despite the distance I was pretty sure it was the Wood Sandpiper found the previous day by Sue Smith, and realised I had a way to confirm this. Over to the Nikon P900...

Yes, despite the ridiculous distant, zooming right up and taking a couple of shots was more than enough to see that this was indeed our first Wood Sand of the autumn!

I promise this laziness will not be a regular thing...