tried dive bombing their chick in the grass.
until the heat distortion goes, cold weather required.
A bright sunny day with a good W>4 keeping it cooler. A white frost on the grass as I arrived up there early this morning but by mid watch the dreaded heat distortion was starting up.
An amazing fall of Dunlin overnight as well as Ringed Plovers making both the a.m. and p.m. watches the best I,ve had up there for many years.
With the water being so low and the shorelines so extensive it is very hard work to check it all out now with much of the searching being through the scope due to the shoreline being so far away.
The NE shoreline and pools were alive with Dunlin though many had to be scoped and all at distance with a count of 22 plus 12 on the south shore and 5 on the west bank making a record total of 39.
The NE muddy shoreline also held 2 Ringed Plover with another 4 on the south shore along with a single Little Ringed Plover which was soon lost from view not to be re located. All these plus Redshanks, Common Sandpipers, Oystercatchers and Curlews made it a day to remember.
Around 150 mixed LBB and Herring gulls were checked for a Yellow Legged but nothing as yet. At one point the gulls got wind of a Curlew chick in the grass nearby and the whole shebang lifted up and started swooping down over the grass. The 2 fearless Curlew parents took to the air attacking the gulls but had to keep landing to stand over the chick. Amazingly another 4 Curlews came to their aid and soon the gulls gave up and landed . Whether the chick survived or not I dont know but it seemed to get away with it this time otherwise if a gull had have taken it there would have been a mad air chase on with the other gulls.
So a real cracker of a day up there and hopefully many more to come.
A couple of unknown birders up on the top road this morning and good to see NK by the Delvers on his way to Cold Edge and Fly Flatts on a mission for Whinchat, not an easy target bird.
BS