The tide was high in the evening allowing me to go after work and have a look to see if anything interesting had turned up in the wader roost. There was a definite increase in wader numbers with many more Greater Sand Plovers and Lesser Sand Plovers present some of which were in summer plumage or at least partial summer plumage. Some of the waders were on the newly flattened rough ground behind the high tide wall but they were very flighty. There were at least 200 Lesser Sand Plovers and a minimum of 100 Greater Sand Plovers but the commonest Plover was Kentish Plover. 27 Grey Plovers were present amongst the 200+ Bar-tailed Godwits.
Greater Sand Plover
Greater Sand Plover
Lesser Sand Plover
Kentish Plover
Lesser Sand Plover (left), Kentish Plover (center) & Greater Sand Plover (right)
Small waders included 200+ Dunlins, 17 Sanderlings, five Terek Sandpipers and a single Broad-billed Sandpiper. Larger waders included 75 Eurasian Curlews, three Common Redshanks and six Common Greenshanks. 14 Greater Flamingos, 22 Caspian Terns and 50+ Little / Saunders Little Terns were also using the sand bars to rest.
.jpg)
