More Waders

Well my predictions in my last post are hardly encouraging me to buy a lottery ticket because they were just so predictable, but half an hour down Black Hole Marsh this afternoon showed my first Little Ringed Plover of the autumn (an adult found by Ian Mc an hour earlier) and a Green Sandpiper.  Plenty more Common Sands too, and even more mud...

Clearly the arrival of all this mud has helped with the increase in wader and gull numbers, but late June/early July often sees a variety of wading birds pass through here. It's easy to forget exact dates so a quick look back through my blog and notes shows we've had Grey Plover, Barwit (and ofcourse Blackwit), Greenshank, LRP, Wood Sand and even Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint in late June.  Some probably being late spring migrants but most will be early autumn returners, they don't hang about on their breeding grounds if they don't need to.

Basically it's always worth checking muddy edges whatever the month, especially considering the fact the big one often travels alone...