Hypo-Active

Dan reporting.

Three green sandpipers and five little ringed plovers on the freshwater edges looked set to be the wader  headline today, until I spied a whopping twelve common sandpipers on the estuary opposite Gull Bank.

This species is regular in twos and threes here in April and Autumn, but a dozen here and another single at Freeman's Pool in June must be some sort of record for Actitis hypoleucos. An odd year for waders so far.

I tried to scope them up to age the birds, but an off-lead woofer queered my pitch and the party twittered off upstream.

The strong and cool Westerly breeze seemed to be keeping most dragonflies out of sight, but a female  black-tailed skimmer was lurking on a path in the wood.

Butterflies noted in the sunnier spells included 4 large skippers, 2 green-veined whites and circa 25 fresh-looking small tortoiseshells.

DH