Wading In

I couldn't find any green sandpipers on the patch this morning but other common waders were much in evidence.
Along with the increasing number of presumably failed breeding adult lapwings gathering on the Lune, flocks of curlew are returning to the estuary too. From Cadaver Corner I counted 8 common sandpiper feeding along the muddy shores and a single moulting black-tailed godwit was on the opposite bank.
Around the ponds the first 'post-breeding' snipe was probing in the wet grass by the Wildfowlers' Pools while the lone lapwing chick remains on The Flood with its parents.
At Freeman's Pools the pair of oystercatcher were still keeping a close eye on their two fledged youngsters. Meanwhile the mute swan cygnets had dwindled to three birds.
A thorough scan through the ever growing black-headed gull flocks on the river failed to dig out any Med gulls. A group of 10 eider comprised adult females and juvenile birds. Nearby 5 goosander were resting on the sand.
A welcome sight came in the form of a pair of common tern fishing on the river, and then on the Aldcliffe Marsh pools. Since the catastrophic collapse of the Colloway nesting colony, these lovely seabirds are quite a scarce sight on the patch these days. I expect these were the Conder adults out foraging for their growing youngsters.
Little egrets and grey herons were all over the place, as is to be expected at this time of year.
Jon