Saturday 16th July 2012

Another quiet Saturday in Staffordshire today. Its been a long slog this summer, but there have been a few highlights along the way. Walking around flooded, birderless pits does have its advantages. We headed to Gailey first and we were soon watching the Spotted Flycatchers by the chimney. A Reed Warbler was also showing well from the causeway

Above Reed Warbler & Spot Fly at Gailey



We headed for our usual stroll around Branston GP's for the afternoon. A few waders on show - a Greenshank, five Green Sands, 21 Curlew and a Peregrine circling overhead.

The water levels on the scrape are back down to normal again

although the overflow pipe is still submerged - a lot of water is being pumped from somewhere

 And on the scrape was this little fellow - the only wader fledging on site today. Its been a disastrous season for the ground nesting birds