Updating The Pool.

My birding yesterday amounted to little more than an update on things Conder Pool and around.

Four adult Common Tern seen included the sitting bird on Tern Island and it's on guard mate. The two other adults seen in the air most of the time on a chase, were not necessarily the other breeders as six adult were reported here on Sunday. So the family party may well have already dispersed as no young were seen in two visits I made yesterday, no big surprise though, as last years young fledged on 7 July, and were never seen again after 14 July. 

Redshank Conder Pool 9 July. Pete Woodruff.

A Redshank chick, and two - possibly three - older young seen, which were in classic Wood Sandpiper lookalike plumage with some downy feathering on the head. Void of checking my records, 260 Redshank counted were probably an all time high for Conder Pool. Five Little Grebe was another increase in numbers, 2 Avocet adult were seen, with one visiting the creeks twice to feed, but no sign of any chicks, 2 Wood Pigeon flying on to the near island was a bit of a novelty.

In the creeks, 10 Common Sandpiper and a Greenshank, and upstream from the road bridge, a Snipe seen, and singing Sedge Warbler. Along the coastal path, 12 Gatekeeper, a Red Admiral, and Brown Hawker seen.