Retrospective Curlew Sandpiper!

While I was away in Suffolk a report came through on Sunday 14th April via the bird news channels of a Curlew Sandpiper on The River Plym but frustratingly there was nothing I could do about it. It was sticking around too, being seen regularly in the following days and I watched the reports of it on the internet with increasing envy. However it suddenly occurred to me that I had seen a small wader feeding on Blaxton Meadow on my Plym visit on Friday 5th April that I had initially thought was a Curlew Sandpiper but had then convinced myself that it was just an odd Dunlin, figuring that it was unlikely to be a Curlew Sandpiper in April on The Plym. It was feeding on its own near some Redshanks and I took a few distant record shot photos of it before continuing my search for Willow Warblers and then I forgot all about it prior to my trip up to Suffolk.

While in Ipswich I eventually had a look at the photos I had taken of the wader on the back of my camera and while they are not exactly brilliant they quite clearly show that what I thought was an odd Dunlin was in fact a Curlew Sandpiper!

Curlew Sandpiper - record shot

Curlew Sandpiper 

A rookie mistake indeed and a reminder to sometimes follow your gut feeling and not your head, birds (increasingly) seem to turn up more and more in unexpected places at unexpected times, it is also a lesson to pay more attention to what is in front of me at the time!

The Curlew Sandpiper was still present on Wednesday 1st May but there were no reports of it on social media the following day as I was heading back to Plymouth. Undaunted I headed out to The Plym on Friday 3rd May for a look about and eventually I found it feeding and roosting along The Embankment on the incoming tide in the company of 2 Greenshank. The views were distant and heat hazy but occassionally it would fly short distances showing its distinctive white rump. Later it appeared on Blaxton Meadow on the high tide along with the 2 Greenshanks where it gave much better views as it begins its moult into summer plumage.

Curlew Sandpiper and Greenshank - more record shots

Greenshanks and Curlew Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper

Also present on The Meadow were 6 Whimbrel, 2 Curlew, 12 Oystercatcher, 5 Little Egret and a Grey Heron along with Canada Geese, Shelduck, Carrion Crows and the usual Herring Gulls plus 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

The usual birds were seen around The Park too including singing Chiffchaff and Blackcap, Swallows chittering overhead, Mandarin Ducks and Moorhens around The Pond, a Nuthatch coming down to seed, at least 4 noisy Ring-necked Parakeets squawking away and 3 Buzzards soaring overhead.

I was very pleased to (re)connect with the Curlew Sandpiper and very glad that it had stuck around for my return to Plymouth, I was also very glad to finally be back home!

Saturday 4th May (Star Wars Day) was sunny but cool and breezy as I headed out to Wembury for a walk. I overslept and missed the early bus and with it being the Bank Holiday Weekend I expected it to be busy but it actually wasn't too bad.

It was lovely to be back by the sea and the whistling calls of at least 5 mobile and flighty Whimbrels along the beach were a joy to hear. Whitethroats were vocal and songflighting too and a male Dartford Warbler also briefly joined in.

Stonechat

A few butterflies were on the wing despite the cool breeze and I was relieved to find at least 4 Green Hairstreaks on the remaining Gorse bushes where the National Trust had done some extensive clearance work a few weeks ago.

Green Hairstreak 

Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak 

Green Hairstreaks