Pennington - 24th September 2007

A sunny, but windy morning. Highlights were Water Rail, a Knot and a flock of 9 Curlew Sandpipers and 3 Little Stints.

7 of us met at the end of Lower Pennington Lane and set off down the track towards the sea. We did check the Starling flocks because there has been a Rose-coloured Starling around here, but we didn’t find it. Looking at the bushes in the fields beside the track there was flocks of Goldfinch and Greenfinch feeding in the morning sunshine and we saw Blue Tit and Dunnock too. At the first lagoon on the right going down the track we saw a couple of Black-tailed Godwit, a Snipe and a Ringed Plover as well as the usual Coot and Mallard.
When we got to the end of the track we saw a group of about 30 Turnstone and a couple of Dunlin feeding amongst the seaweed on the shoreline and there were 2 young Common Tern on the concrete groyne and a Cormorant on a post. Sand Martins, House Martins and Swallows were feeding over the lagoons and a Wheatear was seen on the track. We walked towards Fishtail Lagoon, which always holds the most waders. We stopped to look at Snipe and Shoveler on the way and there was a brief sighting of a Water Rail. As we got to Fishtail Lagoon a second Wheatear was seen on the track.
Fishtail Lagoon was alive with birds. An island had a large flock of roosting Canada Geese and Black-tailed Godwit with a few Redshank and Dunlin amongst them. There were Little Grebes, Mallards, Shoveler, Mute Swans, Coot and a pair of Black Swan in the water. Dennis fond a Greenshank on the far bank. On the other side of the island we found a roosting Knot and a Little Stint feeding frantically. At one point a Dunlin joined them and we saw al three together giving us a wonderful chance to compare these three waders.
At the far end of Fishtail Lagoon there was another small group of waders. They were a flock of 9 Curlew Sandpiper and 3 Little Stint. Curlew Sandpipers are usually seen in ones or twos in autumn and so a flock of nine was a real surprise. This morning provided a great opportunity to learn these small waders that often confuse bird watchers.
On the way back we found a large flock of roosting Redshank at the back of Fishtail Lagoon and saw a Common Darter dragonfly and a Red Admiral butterfly.
Simon Curson