Before & After.

I paid a couple of extended visits to Conder Green on Monday four hours apart, two hours before the tide, and two after, producing some interest and a little quality, albeit the time for quality ratio was a bit unbalanced.

Before the tide.

Greenshank. Pete Woodruff.

Four of 6 Greenshank seen later were roosting on Conder Pool before the high tide, also 11 Little Grebe, a Little Egret, and a Stock Dove, 2 Common Sandpiper and Snipe were in the creeks. 

Greenshank/Little Egret Conder Pool. Pete Woodruff.

After the tide.

Ruff/Redshank Conder Creeks. Pete Woodruff.

Initially roosting with up to 80 Redshank on the marsh, a Ruff was nice as the tide dropped off the creeks, seen later feeding on the mud.

The Conder Common Terns. 

Common Tern Conder Pool 13 August. Pete Woodruff.

When I arrived at Conder Pool I eventually saw 8 Common Tern, all adult flying around chasing each other noisily with their rapid series of quarrelling calls. I haven't the faintest idea what all this was about, but it was prolonged and unceasing for several minutes. Perhaps this is common behaviour within a colony of Common Terns even in mid-August, though no reference to this found in BWP. 

Meanwhile it was a concern that there was no sign of the young bird, which seems to have been the case since last Friday. But then I spotted movement in a gap beneath the slab in the picture above top right, it was the young bird cowering beneath this huge piece of stone.

I had to wait until I returned later after the tide to be convinced the bird was alive, it was out from beneath the stone, and looking good at 22 days old when I was there on Monday.....24 as I write.

Sunrise!

No human has had a hand in the growing of this plant. I watched a Coal Tit one day during the winter, taking Sunflower seeds from the feeders and burying them in this pot in our garden.