Ruff around the edges

Morning visit reasonable - 2 wigeon amongst the mallard etc on Freeman's Pools. 2 chiffchcaff nearby.
4 green sandpiper on the Wildfowlers' Pools plus 5 shoveler & 5 teal.
Another green sandpiper was on The Flood and 5 little egret were on the marsh.
I then bumped into Ray Hobbs by the Walled Meadow who reported a stock dove at the cutting - quite a scarce bird here these days... as we chatted 2 waders flew over us and on to The Flood, further investigation revealed them to be a pair of ruff. Very nice!
A few meadow pipits were kicking about and my first rock pipit of the autumn flew onto the marsh.

As I was on my way back home I came across Steve W who was on his way to d a trawl around - later he told me he'd had an osprey over the marsh about ten minutes after I'd left!

At home, a group of buzzards were thermalling to the west of my house (as viewed from my back yard at 1.35pm) - closer observation revealed one of the 6 birds in total to be an adult honey buzzard, the rest were commons. After a while the honey b. departed swiftly to the SW, soon followed by the com's. As it happens, fellow birder Shaun Coyle was visiting and also got on to the bird - providing him with the first decent bird he's seen in England this year!