Five Ruff have returned
At least five different breeding plumage male Ruff have now returned to the scrapes although they are in moult. Like most of the freshwater loving waders here they are feeding in a few places but spending most of the time between Top New Piece and the South Lake.
Additional sightings include the following.
South Lake
Moving between the duck marsh and scrape- 21 Pied Wagtail, Spotted Redshank, 48 Redshank, 4 Little-ringed Plover, 4 Green Sandpiper, 12 Teal, Egyptian Goose with 5 young- North causeway busy with sleeping waterfowl, same on grassy areas near Hogarth Hide
Tack Piece
Little ringed Plover, 5 Green Sandpiper, 4 Oystercatcher and a few Teal on the scrape.
Rushy Hide/Peng Observatory
Busy with Avocet, Tufted Duck, Shelduck, Mute Swan, Gadwall and Mallard broods.
Top New Piece from Zeiss and Van de Bovenkamp Hides or Estuary Tower
Four male Ruff, a Common Sandpiper, three breeding plumage Dunlin, a Snipe, 4 Avocet, an Oystercatcher, flocks of 84 Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Lapwing and 53 Teal and later in the day a Little-ringed Plover.
Dumbles foreshore over high tide
60 Curlew (four ringed birds, x1 mud stained yellow flag, x2 mud stained white flag/blue rings which are unreadable and Lime L above, white R above), 11 Great Black backed Gull, adult Common Gull and a few Herring Gulls, 41 Shelduck.
Kingfisher Hide
Increased Kingfisher activity at the nest hole, plenty of fish being taken in to feed the second brood of the year.
Discovery Hide- regular passes by Kingfishers carrying fish to a second nest site (nest not viewable unfortunately).
