22 October - an afternoon visit to Rutland Water, and excellent views of the adult White-rumped Sandpiper from Lapwing Hide (photos, 1, Rutland blog - 2,3 JM) with a group of c15 Dunlin. Smaller, with shorter legs and bill - greyer tones - and white rump seen in flight. Also seen - 2 Grey Plover, 26 Golden Plover, 4 Ringed Plover, 7 Ruff, 3 Snipe and 4 Little Egrets. A distant drake American Wigeon was with the large numbers of Wigeon.
En route home, a late afternoon stop at Otmoor (7) gave good views of one of the Short-eared Owls present, hunting over the pill at 6.10pm, then perched up on a hawthorn in fading light. A large flock of at least 300 Fieldfare (6) were feeding in the rough pasture.
A total of 9 Red Kites (4,5) seen en route to and from Rutland, and a further 3 over Otmoor itself. A Little Egret was seen in flight over the A43 at Towcester. Photos 2-7 JM.
ps. I've seen 7 species of North American wader in the UK this year - in chronological order - Lesser Yellowlegs, Baird's Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper (2), Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher and White-rumped Sandpiper.
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