Magnus A and I teamed up for an away trip to Cliffe Pools with a dose of wader action in mind. We did alright, with 18 species of wader among our total of 81 birds. Watching squadrons of
Grey Plovers,
Bar-tailed Godwits,
Ringed Plovers and
Dunlin get pushed around the tide was a great spectacle, while other species included two
Black-winged Stilts, single
Spotted Redshank, eight
Sanderlings, three
Little Ringed Plovers,
Whimbrel, a flock of around 70
Black-tailed Godwits, three
Greenshanks, three
Common Sandpipers, a few
Turnstones and the hordes of breeding
Avocets.
The highlight came while scanning the River Thames, a
Crane entering my field of view as I scoped to the south and being tracked for around ten minutes as it pushed gently north-north-west. I've only seen the species two or three times in Britain before so was rather chuffed! Along the footpaths we were serenaded by six of both
Nightingale and
Cuckoo, along with a variety of warblers including six
Lesser Whitethroats, while a
Hobby dashed overhead.
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| Crane |
 |
| Cuckoo |
 |
| Black-winged Stilt |
