Impromptu Baird's

Saturday (09/09) was a bit of a washout and with my cricket game cancelled by early afternoon, I was free for a bit of birding. Gareth B suggested we go and have a look at the juvenile Baird's Sandpiper discovered the previous evening at Upton Warren flashes near Bromsgrove.

I didn't need any second invitation and 50 minutes later we were on our way there. I hadn't realised quite how close Upton Warren was to us, being only 36 miles away. Therefore, twitching the bird hadn't really been on my radar. So I'm glad Gareth suggested it!

John, one of the warden's was very welcoming on arrival as we coughed up our £3 admission fee. After a short,10 minute walk, we arrived at the hide. In no time we were both enjoying good scope views of our first Baird's Sandpiper. Excellent stuff! At this point it was too far for any photos, however thanks to a band of relentless, local Jackdaws, the bird was chased away from the back edge of the pool to an area far closer to the hide.

  


















The bird was a really crisp-looking juvenile, with lovely scaly upperparts, while the structure was very striking, with the long wings protruding some way past the tail, similar in that respect to White-Rumped Sand.

Other birds noted during our visit included a Hobby (seen by Gareth), a Ruff, 3 Avocet & 2 Common Sands. After an hour or so, we departed for home, extremely satisfied with our visit!