It is not often I bird locally much these days, as it is often hard to get out and see too much exciting in this part of the world, and though once I was keen enough to be happy with the odd Sanderling or Turnstone locally on a reservoir, these days such meger pickings just does not do it for me anymore, alas. But, with the water level dropping at Staines, and now some mud/shingle bars showing a visit was worth while, and it proved just to show what a half decent bit of wader habitat can change the face of a local patch and make a visit more worth while. An early evening visit produced five Little Egrets, single Oystercatcher, 20 Ringed Plover, eight Dunlin, four Greenshank, two Knot, Sanderling, seven Black-tailed Godwit, two Common Sandpipers, three Turnstone, single Little Gull and Black Tern, eight Arctic Terns, and a single Yellow Wagtail, making the effort fairly worth while.
