Tuesday July 23

The omens looked good. Overnight thunderstorms had deposited Wood Sandpipers at Marsh Lane GP and Brandon. Surely Morton Bagot would not miss out?

Well it kind of didn't, but when I arrived at the flashes this evening the initial scan produced the same number of Green Sandpipers as at the weekend, plus 50 Lapwings. I began to lose interest and started to photograph plants.

Then I thought I would check the little pool beyond the flash. The main problem here is that the hedgerow now provides few gaps. Nevertheless, through one of them I could see a female Tufted Duck with a brood of seven ducklings.

Tufted Duck and family through the hedge

Reasonably pleased with this I started to walk back, but stopped to check the flash through the hedge at a place where I could see the front edge, and there stood a Common Sandpiper. Year-tick.

The best of a sorry bunch of record shots

 I also heard a Snipe, and on returning to my usual spot I saw it. Meanwhile the Common Sandpiper was now invisible behind the grass on the front edge. Eventually, it did show again, but further attempts to photograph it were largely thwarted by the vegetation.

The final coup was a recount of the Green Sandpipers which produced a record count, for me at least, of 13.