Lagoon

The sun is somewhat against us this morning; low in the sky, its strengthening rays silhouette many of the birds that are feeding or roosting in this large coastal lagoon. Even so, it is a pleasure to be out and to feel the late summer warmth cut through the thinning mist. Over the next couple of hours the sun will continue on its journey and distant waders and gulls should prove less challenging to identify.

Close in, just a few metres from where we are stood, a small party of dunlin feed in the shallows. In with them are a couple of curlew sandpipers, more elegant and refined than their dumpy counterparts probing the mud. A water rail squeals from the reeds and, not long after, puts in the briefest of appearances. This are one of my favourite birds, full of character and bubbling with personality. A few duck are drifting across the deeper parts of the lagoon, a mix of teal, wigeon and shoveler, while many more doze, heads tucked in, on the small islets that poke above the silken surface.

A change of position and we are better placed to tackle the straggling flock of waders and gulls that extends part way across the lagoon. A dozen avocet are easily spotted, among the large number of godwits – both black-tailed and bar-tailed. While some of the godwits snooze, others stretch and preen. Scattered in with these leggy birds are some smaller waders – mostly knot but with a few ringed plover present. Behind these a run of spotted redshanks is revealed; about time, as we had been hearing their calls for much of the morning. A flock of golden plover arrives, providing a nice comparison with the grey plover – many still in breeding plumage – scattered on one of the quieter parts of the lagoon.

Further away, where the forms of feeding birds are still difficult to resolve in the light, three spoonbills stand in the shallows. These fantastic birds provide a taste of the exotic. Newly established as a breeding species, they are now a common sight here on the north Norfolk coast. It is a wonderful scene and one worthy of such an early start to the day.

Siberian sandpipers put on a show

A somewhat flat start to the day, with high cloud and a hint of autumn chill, found me sat in one of the hides at Cley, scanning the muddy shallows for waders. Along with an occasional godwit, a scatter of lapwing and a few dozen ruff were two small groups of more delicate waders – one numbering four individuals, the other five. These were curlew sandpipers, a species that breeds along the coastal margins of northern Siberia and winters widely, from West Africa to Australasia. It is a passage visitor to our shores, with larger numbers passing through in autumn than in spring.

Curlew sandpipers are, in some respects, similar to dunlin, the latter species providing a useful starting point when attempting identify many a small wader. Slightly larger in size than a dunlin, these curlew sandpipers had a more upright, somewhat elegant, stance that was clearly evident as they fed in the shallows. These were all juvenile birds, with clean white underparts, a smudge of colour on their breasts and nicely marked backs. Later in the morning a good-sized flock of dunlin dropped in and soon the two species were feeding alongside one another, providing the perfect opportunity to underline the differences between the two species. When seen together, the longer, thinner and more curving bill of the curlew sandpiper is clearly apparent, although it is not necessarily a useful identification feature when viewed in isolation.

The numbers of these delightful little birds passing through our shores represents a tiny fraction of the global breeding population and probably derives from those birds nesting at the western end of the breeding range and wintering in south-west Europe and West Africa. Passage numbers, which peak in September, tend to fluctuate from one year to the next, with occasional years when very large numbers pass through. Numbers show some correlation with how successful the breeding season has been but are more strongly influenced by autumn weather conditions. A run of easterlies over Scandinavia and the Baltic during autumn passage, sees more individuals reach our shores, which is good news for us birdwatchers. Most will be seen on the coast, at places like Cley and Titchwell, so now is a good time to go and find them.