The AGP....

....and about 130 'early' Europeans at Cockersands.

But first - to start the post with a bit of colour - a couple of excellent images of the male and female Linnet with thanks once again to Phil Slade

On a brilliant sunny Monday morning I'd have been a fool not to have 'shot off' - as all good twitchers do - to Skipool Creek on the Wyre Estuary to have excellent views of the stunning summer plumage adult male American Golden Plover, still here as I write at 9.00pm this evening. Having had my fill of the bird and duly 'ticked' - as all good twitchers do - in my records I left to call at Fluke Hall with the idea that today was surely a good one for butterflies, well I was wrong again on that one, save noting c.12 Meadow Brown, a Red Admirable, and a Whitethroat continues with its scratchy song.

Eider. Pete Woodruff. 

On to Cockersands where the first returning 130 Golden Plover were waiting for me to count them, along with a miserable 8 Oystercatcher and two young, c.10 Dunlin, and a solitary Lapwing were all accompanied by a Brown Hare looking decidedly out of context though often seen on Plover Scar, 19 Eider were off here. Small birds seen, up to 50 Tree Sparrow were pretty difficult to count and spread far and wide, 2 Sedge Warbler, a Dunnock, Reed Bunting, and 2 Sand Martin over, a Red-legged Partridge had eleven chicks in tow on the road and living dangerously, and a Red Admiral noted.

With the rest of the area under water at the height of the tide I just checked Conder Pool today and found 6 Greenshank on here with the Spotted Redshank and a noticeable change in plumage considering its only five days since I last saw this bird, also 4 Common Sandpiper, and 23 Redshank.  

And finally....

Spotted Flycatcher. Warren Baker

The classic pose of the Spotted Flycatcher which can be identified a mile away, with thanks once more to WB. 

Lyster is the only remaining Cuckoo still in the UK, and Chris isn't dead after all, hes in the Moselle region of France....LOOK HERE