Knee-deep in Waders

Dropped Debbie off at work this morning and went straight onto Breydon Water. I had my reservations about the tide, and was proven correct when on arrival it was apparent most of the Waders were hunkered up against the bank, awaiting the retreat of the high tide. Despite that, I settled in for an hour's watch in the worst hide in Britain (honestly, check it out, it looks and smells like a toilet in a dirty rock club). Wader counts right here:

c220 Avocet- all feeding- what a sight! Over 1000 were seen in 2009, in September.

Black-tailed Godwit 20+

Bar-tailed Godwit 50+ (many of both Godwit species roosting out of sight).

Curlew 20

Greenshank 1

Oystercatcher 4

Redshank- difficult to even estimate, mainly out of sight.

Also of note was one Little Egret and a Common Tern.

The tide showed about as much movement as the Waders, so with time on my hands I decided to take in Cantley too. I checked the northern-most pits first, only 3 Green Sandpiper here. Main action was in the scrub- Reed Warbler, Whitethroat and young birds of prey (Sparrowhawk?) called from woodland nearby.

Not to be beaten, I signed in at reception and tapped up the main pit.

Loads of birds.

My notes make for some good reading!

Ruff 20

Knot 4

Green Sandpiper 15- conservative estimate

Common Sandpiper 5

Wood Sandpiper 1

Greenshank 1

Common Snipe 2

Redshank 2

Dunlin 2 (one interesting juvenile actually had me taking notes; the all black bill and short projection amongst other things confirmed it was 'just' a juvenile Dunlin).

Yellow Wagtail 4

Marsh Harrier 2

Kestrel 1

Bearded Tit- many pinging birds unseen in reed bed.

Little Grebe 2

Rather happy with that lot! Really enjoyed sifting through the endless Green Sandpipers in search of that one Wood; I would guess there were more of each, but as I did the circuit I was in danger of counting some twice. Easily spooked, they make you work for it!