Christine's walking & birds blog

Dorney Lake, Bucks

I walked round the rowing lake late afternoon in a strong wind. A common sandpiper was on the far side of the seasonal pool. Beyond the seasonal pool, a sanderling was on the south shore of the return lake.


I watched the wader for quite a while. A common sandpiper hurried past, too quick to digiscope. It's odd how sanderlings are "scurrying" birds when seen at the coast - but here on the lake shore, they are fairly pedestrian. Different kind of feeding, I suppose. No tides.


Yesterday, I walked "down the bottom" and in the gloom of what the children here grandly call "the woods", I saw a treecreeper. It's only my second record on the estate - the first being many years ago - and it made my day.

On the dragonfly front, a brown hawker and a southern hawker have been hunting through the garden for the last few days. The southern hawker in particular stays for some time if not disturbed, following a circular or figure-of-eight route and looking impressively large in our small garden.