Just before I returned to school, I managed to get my parents to agree to yet another nature reserve adventure, this time to the fantastic RSPB Harbour. After an hour's drive and a service station stop to satisfy a desire for a croissant, we arrived in the carpark and I headed towards the beach. Here we clocked all the usual waders such as Redshank, Dunlin and Curlew, as well as the harbour's resident Whimbrel. A highlight here was a Kingfisher hunting along some brackish channels, although I was unable to get a focus on the bird before it flew off to another perch. Oh well, still a lovely bird to see though. We then paid a visit to the tidal pool just off the main harbour entrance, with hopes for a Wood or Green sandpiper. None were here, but Black-tailed Godwits were posing nicely and there were loads of Dunlin, despite my best efforts to turn them into Curlew Sandpipers it was not to be. At the back of the pool there were many Teal and Lapwing, the former still in eclipse plumage. As our final destination, we stopped at the nearby RSPB Medmerry just a 5 minute drive down the road. After a long walk out to the pools in some fierce heat, we arrived and a kind couple pointed out to us another of the day's highlights, a graceful Avocet delicately sifting through the water with that unique upturned bill of it's - surely amongst Britain's most beautiful waders?? Here there was also a single Wheatear, and loads of Cormorants and Canada Geese. As we were walking back a hovering kestrel and a flyover flock of Yellow Wagtails brought the day nicely to a close.
Black-tailed Godwit
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