The Hat Trick!

Waders continue to give a good show at Conder Green, with up to 250 Knot hanging on there, and 80 Black-tailed Godwit in the creeks.

 

At one point on Conder Pool, 7 Common Tern were present in the morning, and my best of several counts was 17 Avocet. A Little Grebe was in breeding plumage, 2 Greenshank, a Little Ringed Plover, and a Tree Sparrow was in the hedge by the viewing platform. The lone Pink-footed Goose remains here. New blood was in the form of Greylags with 7 goslings still surviving, a pair of Mallard have 11 chicks, and the Canada Goose has at least one chick in the nest on the small island.

In a recently ploughed field at the north end of Jeremy Lane, 8 White Wagtail and 6 Wheatear. 

There was an obvious fall of Whinchat yesterday, birds have been seen at several locations recently, with 11 and 8 reported on two websites, and including my third stunning male Whinchat in eight days, this one at Bank Houses....Not an Oscar Best Film nominee, but good enough for my records.

Around Bank Houses and Abbey Farm, a few more Swallow than of late, also plenty of Skylark with their incessant rolling whistling song-flight. Listening carefully, you might hear the occasional imitations of Swallow and even Green Sandpiper in the variation of the Skylarks song. A lone Tree Sparrow was the first I've seen at Cockersand in 5 months. Butterflies of note, 3 Green-veined White.