Knee deep in waders

What was supposedly to be a short, hour-long stroll around the Lockwood soon degenerated into a mad-rush to get as many locals on site as possible on Tuesday, once it became apparent that there were Waders everywhere!

Overnight, the winds have been blowing from the east and there was persistent rain. On the Lockwood, 7 Common Sandpipers were to be expected, a Redshank was a nice surprise, then I stumbled onto this stunning female Sanderling, with really well marked rufous scapulars.

Apparently it was the first one recorded on the Reservoirs for eight years.

Not content with that, I managed to find my second patch tick of the day in the form of a Turnstone on the raft next to the island on the East Warwick, before finding a stonking, summer plummage Black Tern in amongst 60 Common Terns on the West Warwick.

After a brief sojourn home for lunch, I met up with Lol B on the Lockwood and managed to relocate the remaining pair of Black Necked Grebes that Davey Leach had reported on the London birders wiki earlier in the day.

Lol then went ahead and discovered a Greenshank below the hide on the West Warwick, before later finding a Little Ringed Plover to take the day's wader tally to 7 species in total. Just goes to show what a little bit of rain and overcast conditions can do in Spring!

Aw