A decent wader at last

It's been a long wait. Since the Avocets in early April, the patch has failed to produce a single half-decent wader, until tonight.

Since Sunday's storm the weather has been a mixture of sunshine and heavy showers, and I certainly noticed that the water-level on the main pool had risen since Sunday. At the flashes the level seemed much the same, but almost the first bird I looked at was something different. A juvenile Ruff.

91. Ruff (with Snipe and Lapwing)

I struggled in relatively poor light to get any decent images, and these are the best of the bunch.

The interesting question to me is why tonight? It may just be luck (and to be fair it may not have arrived today), but I like to look for explanations. Perhaps the very bright moon has illuminated the water for a night flying migrant, perhaps it was the heavy showers, perhaps it came in with other birds. There were 87 Lapwings (a small increase), 10 Snipe (a large increase), 15 Teal, and 12 Green Sandpipers tonight. All of the latter were on the furthest flash, but fortunately the Ruff wasn't.

I wandered back feeling pretty pleased. A Sedge Warbler was present in the hedge bordering the pool, where there are now six adult and full-grown juvenile Tufted Ducks in addition to the six half grown ducklings. Back at Netherstead the hirundines were getting excited, and after a while a Hobby drifted through. Finally, the roosting corvids got themselves noticed as about 240 Jackdaws and a few Rooks launched themselves into the sky.