Friday 22 July 2011

In which I finally find something half decent

Pectoral Sandpiper

I was at Canons this morning when Phil called to ask whether I fancied a trip to Dunge. I thought I may as well accept seeing as I'd done the key areas of the farm and there's usually something to look at down there.

We called in at the RSPB centre and we were reminded of reports of a Little Stint at ARC so crossed to the other side in the hope of finding it. There were fifteen Golden Plovers; a few Dunlin and Common Sandpipers; ten Black-tailed Godwits, a Green Sandpiper and, by my reckoning around two thousand Lapwings present.

After an hour or so from the hide there we thought the stint may be at the other end so we pulled up by the side of the road at the south end of the pit. Scanning didn't reveal anything resembling our quarry and I was about to stop searching when an adult Pectoral Sandpiper waddled into my view. Oh . . . cool! I put the news out and proceeded to sketch and photograph the bird which was always on show albeit a little out of range for a top shot most of the time. A little twitch materialised within half an hour. Other birds at this end included two Little Gulls and a couple of Turnstones.

Little Stint

Next we went to Rye where we sat in the garden of Edward and Mandy Mayer, a couple whom Phil befriended in Poland before joining them on a walk around the Harbour. Here I found a Wood Sandpiper and two Whimbrel. A redhead Goosander was a pleasant surprise and six Little Terns flew up. A convenient pager message resulted in us seeing our initial quarry as it wasn't long before we were getting smashing views of a moutling adult Little Stint.

Wood Sandpiper

pair of Whimbrel

A bit of a result really - good day, cheers Phil & team.