Dunlin

With thoughts of Saturday's Merlin and Little Ringed Plover fresh in my mind, I wandered out onto the Lockwood on Sunday morning in search of some migrants with the mother of all hangovers. 2 Wheatear and 6 Meadow Pipits were on the East Bank, before the hangover began to kick in and play havoc with my senses... As I neared the top of the Lockwood, a small raptor flew low over the allotments and perched on a distant pylon by the West bank, exactly where the Kestrels bred last year. Obviously, I wasn't thinking straight as I managed to convince myself that it might be something more interesting (yesterday's Merlin?) and trudged the full distance back again, only to find.... yep, you've guessed it... a pair of Kestrels.

At that point I was thinking about giving up and going back to bed, but for some reason I trudged on to the East Warwick, where I was immediately rewarded with a smart little Dunlin in the North West corner, exactly where Mick M had found a Redshank earlier in the week. I sat down on the grassy bank and watched it happily feeding for about half an hour within about 10 feet of me. It was a really smart little wader, especially as the moulting plumage meant it's breast was covered in a series of small black spots. One of the highlights of the year on the Reservoirs for me, but needless to say I forgot my camera and it had disappeared by early Monday morning.

AW