Venus Pool - Dunlin

A late Dunlin at VP although they have turned up there during every month of the year. They look drab and tricky in Winter plumage but the structure us still the same...

Feeding like crazy, they had to avoid being bounced!

Finally the Lapwings weren't looking...

Always distant but goes with the territory!

This is one wader which doesn't normally let you down!

Venus Pool - Dunlin

The weather was ideal with low cloud and drizzle - wader conditions and three Dunlin had dropped in to share their approval!

Isn't it annoying when one constantly has their back to you!!

Ahhh that's better...

A move / wait to the Memorial hide gave marginally better views :-)

Are November sightings unusual? I checked back in my database, it appears I've seen Dunlin in every month of the year within Shropshire! Never plentiful but nice to know they are always a possibility!

Venus Pool - Dunlin a little closer

 The Dunlin was still in town today, a little closer...

Not much you can say about that!

Venus Pool - Dunlin

I'd been busy all day on the domestic front amid reports from Venus Pool of an unidentified 'small wader'. It was likely to be a Dunlin but with my curiosity nagging me to get over there I popped over there late pm...

It took a while to find and was only viewable from the main hide and was snoozing...

Eventually it started to feed, always with its back to me but at least this showed was a 1st winter Dunlin, pale grey feathers announcing a moult into winter plumage...

A traditional view!

Small wader at VP, always likely to be a Dunlin at any time of the year but they all need checking out!

Venus Pool -- Dunlin & Goosander

The highlight of a couple of hours spent out of the house! A lone winter plumage Dunlin  lifted the spirits but it never came close...

Better luck with this female Goosander...

Roll on Spring and some warmer weather!

Venus Pool - Dunlin x 2

Just two Dunlin present today so I set myself a target of photographing them together...

The first one progressing towards winter plumage..

The second lagging behind a bit, answers to 'spotty'!

Rapidly approaching me!

Picking tasty morsels on the way...

Then worn out by it all, having a bit of a scratch!

Gotta make the most of them. They and other passage waders will soon be 'memories'! 

Venus Pool - Dunlin

There were six Dunlin present today! Five were stand offish, whilst the other one was a little poser, such a shame about the light!

Finding some tasty morsels in the mud!

Then just posing!

Always love to see a ruffle!

Venus Pool - Egrets and Waders

I wasn't expecting much but with an empty car park at Venus Pool beckoning, I walked down to the hide with a spring in my step! Rightly so, there were two Little Egrets on the middle island, then as I returned my gaze to that area, their Big Brother had walked in, a Great White Egret!

A long way off but big enough to stand a decent crop

There had also been a Redshank present on arrival but a shrill call announced some company in the shape of a Dunlin!

Shame nothing came any nearer...

On this Day (May 15th)... The perfect storm

May 15th 2013 was one of the most serious wader days in memory. Torrential rain overnight, clearly lots of waders moving, it was the perfect storm...

Other than keeping me awake for most of the night, I underestimated just how big an impact the deluge was going to have on the wader passage through Shropshire! It was a text from Martyn Owen that got me kick started and then had to somehow battle through gridlocked traffic!

Eventually I made it to VP where 2 Sanderling, 29 Dunlin and  2 Ringed Plover were waiting (I'd missed a Black Tern plus 3 Arctics passing through!).

Here's the waders. It was impossible to get them all in the frame but some nice counts here! (some bigger images than normal!)

One of the two Sanderling taking centre stage!

By 9.30, the Dunlin count had reached 37 - surely the highest for the reserve. Most of them plus Sanderling are here......

Tom Lowe and Martyn Owen had gone on to Long Lane and Chelmarsh with impressive wader counts coming out including a lifer Turnstone for MO at Chel (nice find eh!) Having been joined by Mike Stokes, we opted to check what wader megas might be lurking in the north of the County. Answer: absolutely none!! Too much water at Wood Lane and Whixall meant absolutely nothing doing and all we came away with were 2 Common Terns on Colemere!

A check of  VP after lunch and the original wader flock had cleared out at 10.30, only to be replaced later by another 13 Dunlin plus 1 Sanderling but the weather was now quite settled. Would the Turtnstone still be at Chelmarsh?? We set off and 40 mins later were totting up 1 Turnstone, 8 Sanderling, 4 Dunlin, 1 Redshank, 1 Common Sand on the dam plus 3 Common Tern, the scrape looked good but was empty.....

We just had to check Long Lane next. Goodness only knows  why this flooded field has become a wader hotspot, presumably the presence of waders attracts even more!! It's also 'out of the way' and the birds don't get disturbed! An initial scan indicated that the count here was going to top the lot so far and MS picked out a summer plumage Knot! Repeated counts eventually confirmed we were looking at 1 Knot, 63 Dunlin, 6 Sanderling, 15 Ringed Plover plus 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Curlew plus at least 4 Lapwing. 

The 'perfect storm', the'Big Day'......., superlatives peppered the news services as Twitter went into overload and for once Shropshire was head and shoulders ahead on the Midland scene!

I ended the day with an evening check of VP where 1 Sanderling, 13 Dunlin and an Arctic Tern remained. I've not added these to the day tally at three sites for MS and myself......

Turnstone, Knot, Redshank, Common Sand 1 each

Sanderling 17 

Dunlin 117 

Ringed Plover 17

LRP 2,  Curlew 2 ,  Lapwing 4 , Oystercatcher 6.....

One of the Dunlin.....

Two of the Dunlin!

Dunlin with Sanderling!

One Sanderling and one heck of a day to remember!

All I can say and I've said it before (sorry Sir Alex) Shropshire Birding - Bloody Hell!

On this day (May 1st)...Dunlin (VP)

Let's start my May review' with the humble Dunlin. The archetypal reference wader, if you know your Dunlin size and plumage patterns, all the other 'smaller waders' become easier to assess. Whilst not exactly 'common' locally, I've recorded them in Shropshire during every month of the year!

Waders haven't really got going yet and this was my first Dunlin of the year at VP and for a change, as obliging as they come here!

Feeding like there's no tomorrow!

A rare 'head up' pause!

Spent quite a bit of time under the bank.....

Covering just about every portrait angle!

He seemed to be tagging along with up to 3 Common Sandpipers.....

Which are coming next!