Christine's walking & birds blog

What a madhouse after the calmness of yesterday! The southwesterly wind got up in the night and carried flurries of rain with it; but I wanted to see a purple sandpiper on the first day of the year, so I put my hood up and got on with it.  Battling out into this wind (which immediately blew my hood off again) along the edge of the golf-course, I despaired of finding any small waders at all, although oystercatchers and one curlew were present, foraging in a sheltered stretch of the river. A shellfish picker (probably winkles) went right out onto the exposed, stony spit and I followed; but I could see nothing at the water's edge. I walked back taking a different line, and a small movement to the left caught my eye - ringed plover! There were three or four of these and with them, hunkered down by a clump of seaweed, was a purple sandpiper.

I'm not sure this was either of the two birds we saw yesterday, so maybe there are more around. But I didn't want to disturb them too much and anyway, I knew where I was going - home, to regroup and to decide where I would go next. In the event, after a cup of coffee and a slice of Christmas cake, I decided to stay in for the rest of the day. I watched the birds in the garden hoping to see a brambling - but they seem to have disappeared. Typical.