Waders Galore - 29/08/11

With hordes of Curlew Sandpipers flooding into the country over the past week I thought it was about time I went out and got one in the Fylde so decided to check Skippool and then Glasson which are the 2 best wader areas. The tide was dropping when I arrived at Skippool so the waders were starting to come back to feed and I had the resident Spotted Redshank along with a Greenshank, 18 Ringed Plover (most I've had here), 29 Golden Plover, 21 Black Tailed Godwit, 7 (yes only 7!) Dunlin, 80+ Curlew and loads of Redshanks and Lapwing. I also noted the adult Yellow Legged Gull which I've seen a few times here over the past month. However no Curlew Sands so I headed off to Glasson in the hope of locating one there.

A brief stop on the way at the Conder Pool saw another Spotted Redshank and a Greenshank on the river before getting to Glasson where I spotted Paul Slade already set up looking out over the river. He informed me that he had seen a Curlew Sand with the Dunlin flock at Cockersands so it was back in the car and down there where we were greeted with a strong wind blowing straight into our faces coming from the river which meant it was very difficult to view the mixed Dunlin and Ringed Plover flock on the short in front of us. I decided to view from the car as it offered some shelter and after several scans which revealed a few Sanderling and a couple of Turnstone I eventually found the Curlew Sandpiper (yeartick) feeding in the centre of the flock. A small flock of Oystercatchers that flew downriver were the final waders of the day and brought the total to a respectable 13 species.