Christine's walking & birds blog

Back to Dorney

In the late-afternoon sun the ruff looked tawny again. 

The cattle would graze for a while and then come lumbering through the flood from end to end, making the lapwings squeak in protest until they lumbered out again. Two of them passing behind the ruff provided a size check. (Sometimes, staring at waders through optics, I forget how small they really are.)

Aware suddenly of beady eyes just inside the field I realised that two snipe were nestling there. I put the camera on landscape setting to get past the rushes, and it sort of worked. A third snipe flew over calling.

I've never been able to remember whether the common snipe has a yellow central crown stripe and the jack snipe a dark one, or vice versa. Maybe I'll remember now.

A green sandpiper was also present, and all birds were still there when I left (with aching arms and shoulders - it's not easy to look at this flood with just bins). Those birders who can sit comfortably in hides and survey great swathes of wetlands have it easy! Mind you, I don't much like hide birdwatching. There's no pleasing me really.