Juv. Curlew Sandpiper.
I had a couple of great wader watching sessions at Oare this week , firstly on Monday 22nd August , i was hoping to see the Little Stint's that had been seen over the weekend although i had no luck with these i did see good numbers of Curlew Sandpipers , there was at least 11 juvenile birds and a single moulting adult , really enjoy watching these in their fresh juv plumage.
Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper.
The Bonaparte's Gull dropped into the East flood briefly before flying back towards The Swale.
Adult Bonaparte's Gull.
There was 1 Spotted Redshank and at least 6 Knots amongst the hundreds of Black Tailed Godwits , Redshank & Avocets.
My second session was yesterday the 25th August and i arrived about an hour before high tide , the sheer numbers of waders here is quite a sight , i instantly saw my first Little Stints with a group of 6 birds feeding out in the middle of the flood.
Juvenile Little Stint.
Where ever i looked there seemed to be a Little Stint with a maximum of 18 birds counted which is the most i have seen together here at one time.
Little Stint.
Keeping them company was at least 25 Curlew Sandpipers (all juvs) plus 250+ Dunlin , 100+ Ringed Plovers, 100+ Golden Plover , 500+ Redshank & 10+ Ruff including a couple of small juv birds in cracking plumage.
3 Golden Plover.
Juv Curlew Sandpiper.
There was quite a variety of different species of wader including a single Greenshank , 3+ Knot , 2 Green Sandpipers , 200+ Avocets , 50+ Lapwing , 1500+ Black Tailed Godwits & 20 Whimbrel flew over head towards Sheppy.
Whimbrel.
I also saw the Bonaparte's Gull again as it roosted on the East flood.
Bonaparte's Gull.
A real surprise was 5 Little Terns flying around the flood when all the waders got spooked , when everything settled down again there was in fact 7 Little Terns (3 ads & 4 juvs).
Juv Little Tern & a Dunlin.
2 adult & 1 juv Little Tern.
There was also a single Common Tern & 3 Sandwich Terns on the flood with a further 12 Sandwich Terns flying over head.
Sandwich Tern.
A really great couple of visits and quite a challenge scanning through all these waders , hopefully a Temminck's or something a bit rarer might turn up soon !!!!
(not that i am complaining...... Lol)
