Waders On The Move

More good weather during the week . I spent a glorious four hours on Morecambe Bay filming up to ten species of wader. The undoubted highlight was filming twenty four Curlew Sandpipers which were birds I had never even seen before. Most were juvenile birds that had come from Siberia and usually pass through the area in just a couple of days. I count myself lucky to have spent a magical morning in perfectly calm conditions with those long distance migrants. Click here to view. At one point one was almost lost to a hunting Sparrowhawk that got within two foot of a catch. More than thirty Egrets were present at dawn together with a couple of Snipe that performed well for the camera.

The big news from the garden was that we had a new bird on the 2nd when a Whitethroat fed on the honeysuckle berries for a full five minutes giving us some good views. The Greenfinches have now suddenly increased to twenty three and on the 6th the Nuthatch made a welcome return. Also on the 6th twenty Swallows rested on the telephone wires outside the house. Positive signs of a movement South as Northerly winds set in. Has Summer come to an end?