Lincolnshire Waderfest!

So it was back to Lincolnshire for another long days birding last Thursday. The attraction was two fold. Firstly, there has been a somewhat unprecedented influx of Wood Sandpipers into the country. This is a passage migrant that I expect to see in ones or twos every year. Exceptionally large flocks landed last week, for example a flock of over 100 were recorded on the Norfolk coast. The opportunity to see so many of these lovely waders together was simply too good to miss. Secondly, although I did “see” the rare American White-rumped Sandpipers 10 days ago at Frampton it was a very poor one out of ten obscured view.

So I arrived early at Freiston RSPB on the east coast to be greeted by Wood Sandpipers absolutely everywhere on the medium sized muddy pond know as the reservoir. The two White-rumped sandpipers were also showing on and off reasonably well.

The highlight, however, was the big evening 6m high tide which pushed everything off of the salt marshes and onto to the reservoir for a wader spectacular the like of which, in terms of the mixture of waders in a small area, I have never seen in the UK.

41 Wood Sandpipers
Little Stint
2 White-rumped Sandpipers
4 Greenshank
6 Green sandpipers
2 Common sandpipers

and uncountable numbers of

Dunlin
Redshank
Knott
Black-tailed Godwit
Turnstone
Oystercatcher

Wood Sandpiper in the late evening sunlight

White-rumped Sandpiper in the morning gloom

White-rumped sandpiper in the warm evening light

As a mid day interlude, I popped over to the almost adjacent Frampton Marsh RSPB and finally managed to get the American Long-billed Dowitcher on my year list – the first one I’ve seen in summer plumage in the UK.

I also spent a little time at Freiston watching the Tree Sparrows which were a common bird in the countryside around the Wiltshire village were I grew up but are sadly, like so many once common birds, now so hard to connect with.

Tree Sparrow and hungry chick

 I arrived home late as a tired but very thoroughly happy chappy!