Sunday August 28

A morning which was mostly cloudy with a few sunny intervals. Quite warm with a light southerly breeze.

I was joined by Dave as usual and we had a good start as a Hobby flew over the dragonfly pools. A little further on we discovered my last 'easy' year tick in the form of the first Grey Wagtail of the autumn. Typically the bird was seen only in flight after its distinctive call was heard.

A little further on we discovered a Whinchat, and I probably heard a Tree Pipit, but Dave didn't hear it and as it was rather faint I decided not to count it on the day list.

At the Flash field the watchword was quantity rather than quality. Lapwing numbers have increased to 51, Teal to 62, Snipe to 29, and Green Sandpipers to 14. The Common Sandpiper was still present, and so was the Garganey.

Garganey with two Teal

It doesn't appear to have the white flank spot I noticed last Thursday, so maybe it is a different bird. A millisecond after the above photo was taken, it flew to the furthest Flash, and a few minutes later it flew away to the west.

Despite our best efforts we failed to add significantly to the birds seen this morning before we reached our cars.