As i was on nights this coming week,i decided to drive over to the Idle Valley just over the border into Notts to pay the juvenile Baird's Sandpiper a visit.
After driving around grid locked traffic on the M180,i eventually made it over to my destination,Slayne's lane,part of the Idle Valley Washlands area.
A few cars were present and after seeing the smiling face of rarity finder extroadinaire Lance Degnan and he said the bird was still present.
I parked up and got the scope set up and saw the bird straight away,unfortunately it was asleep.....damn it,but the scalloped upperparts were still a giveaway,even at long range
A nice chat with Notts birder Nick Crouch,while the Baird's eventually woke up ensued,in between some lovely views of the local Great-white Egrets,with 8 on show,being the most I've ever seen together.
Back to the star wader,after being flushed along with all the other waders present after an unseen raptor?,it flew back in with it's Dunlin buddies and actually fed for a while.
The more horizontal feeding stance and longer wings being apparent and the more distinct head pattern standing out,thank god for 60x Zoom Swaro scopes.
It's amazing to think that this bird has hatched somewhere on the Canadian tundra a few months ago and is now off course thousands of miles from where it should be.
After getting my fill of views of this,my 3rd Baird's Sandpiper,with my last being at Hatfield Moor on the 10th September 2016 and my first being the bird at Kirkby Pits In Lincolnshire on the 22nd September 2005,i travelled home to get some rest before the dreaded nightshift.
As i didn't get any photos or video of this bird,due to distance and weather conditions,i have included a few of the Hatfield bird i took in September 2016.
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