Broad Minded

News and a few shots of a Broad-billed Sandpiper at Seaton Snook (is that a real place?  Like Atlantis!) yesterday had me to-ing and fro-ing about whether to travel today or not, and if so, when.  After seeing it on BirdGuides this morning, I was minded to go for the evening high tide, and then I thought, 'Bollocks, just do it!' so it was a 1:30 arrival and after 30 minutes of plodging in my wellies across soft sand with optics and cameras and a fleece on, I was kapput.

BirdGuides came up trumps yet again, with a new location at Seal Sands.  Like Robinson Crusoe pulling himself by his fingernails across the sand, I slowly manoeuvred my wrecked self back to the car and off south.

And then to the hide, and some patience from one within in terms of, 'Do you see the X?  Well look left and past the Y.  Then look down and to your left and where the Z is, it's there.'

And after what seemed like a lifetime, a Lifer.

Very distant, requiring the 60x zoom, and frequent focussing and refocussing, but a Broad-billed Sand nonetheless.

Nice!

Bassington NR

No sign of the Green Woodpecker this afternoon, but a nice Kestrel v Sprawk 'dogfight' over the wooded area was a good start.

Plenty of Odonata, many paired up, all over the place.  The west end had at least three Black Darters and their Common (note: thanks, Brian (again)) cousins:

And in the throes of procreation (is nothing sacred?):

Ouch!

Bassington NR the intended venue this afternoon, abbreviated by the rain.  Bugger!

Before the heavens slowly opened, a drive east along Bassington Drive and the Green Woodpecker lifted from the north pavement and into the trees, never to be seen again.

The gulls on the roof of the factory at the west end of the road were very vocal, and one LBBG in particular on the apex of the south end of that roof.  Whilst noisy, it did not appear in pain despite something having punctured its throat as you can see below: