Race against sun for Greater Sand Plover

Greater Sand Plover (Tim Cowley)

Greater Sand Plover (Tim Cowley)

Greater Sand Plover (Tim Cowley)

Greater Sand Plover (Tim Cowley)

Long way home

Beach as we were leaving

North end twitchers

My best attempt in fading light

Selfie with the Squire

As per is typical when you have other commitments the news alert buzzed late Friday that there was a Audouin's Gull in Sheffield on Friday. Although seen at first light on Saturday it was not seen again which made the pain a lot easier to deal with.

Then late Saturday the buzz of the phone indicated "MEGA Great Sand Plover - Easington. Being out of action (with parents 50th Anniversary celebrations) I followed the news with interest the following morning when the bird was sighted then disappeared for a number of hours. The reappearance happened during the journey back from Wales. After emptying the car and watching the start of the world cup final, the Squire text and after a couple of mixed messages we hatched an off the wall plan to leave immediately for Spurn to try and see the rare Plover. The positives were we knew it was there, roads would be quieter but we would need to not hang around as the light would start to fade.

The Squire drove like he was on a time trial rallying through Hull and on into Easington. As we got out the car another birder advised us the bird was much further south and whilst it could be viewed it was very distant but if he headed to Beacon Ponds end it would be closer.

With time against us we could have done without a twenty minute walk but it was very much worth it as there on the beach (among the Dunlins) was the Greater Sand Plover.

The Plover was much more striking than I expected, the evening sun made the birds colours really stand out. Migration is an stunning thing, how this bird reached Spurn from central Asia is just amazing. However the species has also been recorded in Iceland and America.

There were six birders stood with us and around twenty at the north end of the beach. Apparently in was total madness when first sighted and again when it reappeared in the afternoon.

Our decision to go late on Sunday looked to have paid dividends on the following day as the bird was not seen. A 1 am get into bed seemed worth it in the end. 

Many thanks to Tim Cowley for use of his fantastic images. Please drop him a follow @tc271, he's a top birder from Spurn who takes some great shots.