Racing, photos & birding

Pagham Harbour

Sandwich Tern

Mediterrean Gull

Grey Heron

White-rumped Sandpiper

White-rumped Sandpiper

Cormorant

Storm approaching

Sanderling

Sanderling & Dunlin

Pegasus Stables

Yeoman on parade

The wonder horse Baaeed

Action from Goodwood

It has been a busy few weeks with my photography shooting, a wedding and Commonwealth Games awards. On top of this, I've been to Glorious Goodwood to see the unbeaten Baeed and the historic Pegasus Stables in Newmarket.

On the trip to Goodwood, I visited Pagham Harbour for a enjoyable session of birding. The White-rumped Sandpiper was the star attraction but it was to see a range of species including Sandwich & Little Tern, Cattle Egret, Brent Goose, Spotted Redshank, Dunlin, Med Gull, Whimbrel, Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit.

The Newmarket trip gave us the opportunity to take a walk at Grafham Water which is just outside Huntingdon. The weather was excellent but there was a threat of a storm in the distance. I did find a Sanderling and Dunlin on the basin which hadn't been reported previously which was nice. We walked as far as the nature reserve, taking in some nice views of a dozen Common Tern.  

Another day another Sandpiper

A bumper number of Shearwaters flying through Devon on Friday tempted me however for a weekend twitch I stuck to my original plan & headed to Kilsea Wetlands as soon as the first report of the White-rumped Sandpiper came through on the phone.

Twitching a flighty bird with a 3 hour journey was always going to have an element on risk involved but It would be worth it if I could pull it off. Confidence increased as it was reported again when I was just an hour away. Safely parked I was literally skipping round to the hide only to be greeted with “It’s gone mate”.

Feeling like a burst balloon I decided to make the most of the location and have a good nosey around recording Sandwich, Common & Little Terns, some fantastic coloured Red Knots, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Little Egrets, Common & Green Sandpipers.

With the chance to get back to watch the second innings of local cricket I then headed out of Kilsea when the Squire reached me in a rare mile of reception to tell me the White-rumped was back. I quickly turned back along the ten minutes of lanes to park and sprint to the hide. There at last was the target bird of the day. The bird was very distinguishable as it was very pale compared to the Dunlin flock it was with & also smaller. The long primary projections were a feature that really stood out.

 

From a earlier moment of despair the afternoon drive home went very smoothly and to make the day even better I hadn’t missed any cricket due to heavy rain in the midlands.