Luckily this morning the cloud and haze, along with a light ESE>2 kept the heat down to 17 degrees making it quite pleasant.
A cracking start to the morning but very short lived with all the excitement in the first 15 minutes.
As I parked up on the south shore a bird took off from the shoreline looking like a House Martin at first glance being a very dark bird and bright white rump. I grabbed the bins, as it flew over my head, to reveal a Green Sandpiper. I hoped it would land on the lagoon or circle round and return to the shore, as I grabbed the camera, but unfortunately it gained height and headed off >S into the haze.
This is my first Green Sandpiper for 3 years and a very irregular species for this site. Immediately after this, a Cormorant flew over, very high and >S, another rare sighting for Fly Flatts due to the very peaty acidic water and no fish life whatsoever.
With this batch of excitement over I scoped up to do my usual shoreline check to determine whether I walked the east or west coast, depending on any birds present.
As I scoped the north shore a tight group of 12 Dunlin were zipping low over the water doing small circuits, as if deciding where to land, before disappearing towards the NW corner.
This now meant another trek along the west bank, which I had'nt planned on today, but 12 Dunlin was too tempting. As I arrived at the far end I scoped up and scoured all around the north and east shore, as well as the overflow, but no waders to be found, meaning they must have headed off >W.
At least 7 Wheatear were on the northern shore as well as 17 LBB and 8 Black Headed gull plus the usual Mallard and Tufted families.
Back at the south shore it was alive with Mipits and Goldfinch whilst 28 Swallow headed >S in the space of 10 minutes along with 8 House Martin. Another day bart photos with everything distant or in the heat shimmer.
The Green Sandpiper brought my total of waders, this year, to 16, all at Fly Flatts apart from the Leeshaw Bar Tailed Godwit. The waders were as follows :-
Curlew
Lapwing
Snipe
Golden Plover
Bar Tailed Godwit, ( Leeshaw)
Black Tailed Godwit
Little Egret, ( some controversy about this being classed as an actual wading bird)
Common Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Greenshank
Dunlin
Ringed Plover
Oystercatcher
Ruff
Redshank
Missing possible waders to come are :-
Knot
Sanderling
Whimbrel
LR Plover
Grey Plover
Spotted Redshank.
These are all past visitors but rare, other than Sanderling that never missed but evaded me last year.
A yukky looking forecast for tomorrow with full sun on a light SE starting off at 18 degrees and climbing to 29 degrees p.m. but I'll be well out of it by then.
BS