Great Knot or Great Dot?

15 July - It's a couple of years since I've been to Norfolk, but Great Knot is one of my favourite East Asian waders, its a striking and declining bird with an amazing migration to and from Australia - so the adult at Breydon Water, only the 4th record for Britain, was too good an opportunity to miss on a day off work - even though I saw the "Great Dot" in Cleveland back in 1996. Great Yarmouth is not an easy place to get to, especially with roadworks en route, so I arrived after the bird had joined other waders in going to roost prior to high tide. We then spent several hours waiting for the tide to turn, during which time I had 3 good views of the bird in flight, as it showed its striking black neck/upper chest band and its dumpy shape. It then appeared on the falling tide and we had good but distant views of it on a mudbank - chestnut back, black neck, slightly decurved bill and fairly short-legged dumpy shape all seen. It then flew out to the estuary and fed, still identifiable distantly due to its size and shape. Really satisfactory views of a very rare and iconic wader, and well worth the trip. Other birds seen over the high tide period - Black- and Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, 3-400 Avocets, Curlew, Whimbrel, Redshank, 5 Greenshanks and 1 Spotted Redshank. Also 6 Little Egrets - and 4-5 Mediterranean Gulls, in plumages ranging from ad - 2 year - juvenile. My first 2-3 Sandwich Terns of the year were with more numerous Common Terns. Photos JM, including v distant record shot of the Great Knot (more of a Dot, 5).