Marsh Sandpiper.
Yesterday the 13th July i headed to Cliffe Pools in the hope of seeing the recently reported Marsh Sandpiper , a very slow careful drive along the Black barns track and we were soon parking up near the second mound , there were already 2 birders there and they had both seen the bird but it had flown towards the Flamingo Pool having been chased off by the Black Winged Stilts about 30 mins earlier.
Black Winged Stilt.
The Black Winged Stilts are a real success story here at Cliffe with at least 7 chicks so far surviving , great work & dedication by the Rspb and volunteers .
Now back to the Marsh Sandpiper which flew back in to view into the nearest pool in front of the mound and gave superb views through the scope , i managed some Digi scoped photos but even at that range were not that great.
Digi scoped photo of Marsh Sandpiper.
Marsh Sandpiper.
I attempted a photo with my Canon 7d mark2 .
Marsh Sandpiper taken with Canon 7d Mark 2.
I watched the Marsh Sandpiper for about 5 mins in the closest pool before it flew further back into the Black Winged Stilt pool where it settled for a preen before it was once again chased off by the Black Winged Stilts, i left there about 9am as the heat haze wasn't helping viewing at that range .
There were lots of Avocets with young here plus a i saw quite a few Bearded Tits.
Bearded Tit.
In the evening i joined a couple of birding pals and went to Church Wood and heard 1 Nightjar plus saw 2 Tawny Owls , there were a couple of Bats which were quite small presumably Pipistrelle ??
