SE + rising tide =

well usually it brings in Black Terns but tonight none appeared though I thought I heard a Sandwich Tern over Waters' Edge but only two Common terns were present; a scan of the Humber suddenly revealed a Bonxie heading west; almost annual in September - November there have been very few July records and then a Sandwich Tern called and passed right over my head! a two tick night and a three tick day so the list is looking up! 154

a new wader at last

I have not been around the patch much of late so may have missed all sorts of goodies but at least wader passage is picking up and there were 390 Dunlin on Chowder this morning accompanied by two Red (rather nice peach) Knot and a splendid orange Curlew Sandpiper an early autumn tick for this regular species normally picked up as smart juveniles in September - October. This takes the tally to 152 after a long barren spell; still not had a Greenshank yet this year and this species seems to be getting scarcer locally for some reason; others missing are Green Sand, Spotted Red and Red-necked Stint -- the latter an obvious candidate for next patch list addition!

slow struggle

With very few gulls on the local part of the estuary it was with some good fortune that I managed to pick up a 3cy Yellow-legged Gull amongst the 10 Lesser Black-backs today; the chances of a Caspian Gull though must be minimalist with so few gulls using the patch this year; 151