I was off for the week after our holiday to Cyprus. We did manage to have several days birding, but we wasted two of them by standing in Horton, Staffordshire looking for a reported IBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF. Being up the north of the county, we managed to see Pied Flycatcher, Wood Warbler and Dipper, plus a Wood Sandpiper and two Greenshanks at Tittesworth. Frustrated by how the week unfolded, we made the most of the Saturday with a quick dash over to Lincolnshire to see the Collared Pratincole.
Then we returned to Staffordshire and started what turned into a bit of a wader fest over the next few weekends. It was all down to a strong easterly wind that made birding the dry, sun baked pits quite unpleasant, turning them into dust bowls. It was also hard to keep your scopes still, and so most birding was done on your knees. But the wind certainly produced the goods, with pictures below of Black-tailed Godwit and a partial s/pl Knot.
