Martin Mere

Day out to Martin Mere with the weather managing to behave itself.

The long-billed dowitcher that had been reported this morning was best viewed from where the old Swan Link Hide used to be so it was business as usual for most of the reserve. I had a look in at the viewpoints where the Swan Link used to be but you can't get more than half a dozen people in either so I scratched the dowitcher, only to accidentally see it briefly from a distance from one of the other hides. 

Black-tailed godwits, Martin Mere
No long-billed dowitcher here.

There were a lot of waders about including snipe, ruff, greenshanks and green sandpipers as well as the flock of a few hundred black-tailed godwits the dowitcher was hiding in. 

Not often you get this many different species of wader in one shot without its being a distant crowd scene.

Green sandpiper flying in, black-tailed godwit, a couple of snipe and a couple of greenshanks

Left-to right: green sandpiper, snipe, a couple of greenshanks and another snipe

Greenshanks

Best of the rest was a hobby catching dragonflies in front of the Ron Barker Hide.