Wood Sands and Crossbills

Am pleased to say I have some more bird news!  July hasn't half come around fast, but am glad it's here because it's always the month that you really feel autumn-migration gains some serious momentum.

Black Hole Marsh, now that we have some muddy edges, is proving a real magnet for the first returning wading birds. I just spent half an hour down there with Jess, this showed 40+ Black-tailed Godwits, 20 Redshank (including my first juvenile of the year), five Common Sandpiper, three Lapwing, three Dunlin, two Greenshank and two lovely Wood Sandpipers.

The Wood Sandpipers were quite close, but in appalling light so my photos aren't anything special...

The two adult Wood Sands with singles of Lapwing, Common Sand and Dunlin

   

Again both Wood Sands, although the darker of the two is fast asleep!

Fifty shades of Blackwits!  Some real stunners in full breeding plumage still

 

It's not just waders here, there's lots of Black-headed Gulls about including at least five juveniles, and Shelducks have clearly had a fairly reasonable breeding season with lots of grown up babies about.  

Earlier this week I was pleased to get my first vismig Crossbills of the season.  And even better, they were from my garden whilst I was emptying the moth trap.   Two flew south west over the garden, and although I didn't capture them on this video, if you turn the sound up you can hear them chupping away...

 

 

There's been a lot of gulls feeding out in the bay in recent days, so am hoping to take a closer look at them in the morning. Hopefully they lure something better into the bay.