Hard work this morning with only new birds 2+ Curlew sands, Dunlin c10, Ringed plover c90, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed godwits, Greenshank, Redshank 3 and Ruff 4+. More Hirundines than in recent days. 3+ Wheatear still.

With the recent arrival of Curlew sands in the region I decided to sort through my notebooks to find the biggest flock I'd seen and came up with 31 on 31/08/1975. I remember as if it was yesterday sitting with Tony Blake and his wife watching them come in from the North.

Quick look this afternoon produced a juvenile Arctic tern, 2 Black terns and 5 Curlew sands, 96 Ringies and c20 Yellow wags.

Good selection of waders this morning with a Knot in the Blithe, Barwit and Blackwit, Wood and Curlew sands, 2 Ruff and 3 Greenshanks plus 2 Black terns still present. With MDJ and ICW.\

Good selection of waders this morning with Bar-tailed godwit being the star bird, also 7+ Curlew sand, Wood and Green sands, Greenshank, Blackwit, and Ruff. Still 2 Black tern and a late Swift down the Deep End. With MPR.

Nice couple of juvenile Wood sands this morning (found by MPR) the first for two years also ca17 Curlew sands, ca10 Black terns plus the usual Blackwits,Greenshank, ect ect.

I thought the days of large flocks of Arctic waders were over but the 13 Curlew Sandpipers today at Blithfield put a stop to that at least the short term. It was the best count since the same sized flock on 29/08/2010.

Cracking morning at Blithers, main highlight was a large movement of 240+ Ringed Plover from 06.30 to 10.30 hrs. and a brief visit of a Curlew Sandpiper, other birds noted were a fly through Turnstone and a female Marsh Harrier moving north east. With MPR.

54 juvenile Common terns just dropped in on Admaston Reach

Not much change this morning, first GWE for sometime, good Ruff count of 16 and 7 Crossbill over.

We didn`t see the Curlew sandpiper this morning but did record my joint second highest flock of Crossbill (12). with MDJ.

Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper in Blithe Bay tonight.

Cropped photo of this morning`s juvenile Little Stint at Blithfield.

Decent morning at Blithers, Grey plover (Blith year tick), 2 Turnstone, c35 Ringies, Marsh harrier, Caspian gull and 2 Whinchat ( Staffs year tick).

Hard work this morning in the heat, birds of note were Turnstone, Blackwit (4), Med gull (juv), GWE and Sptd fly. Several singing Willow warblers. With MDJ & ICW.

Bit of a movement of Turnstones this morning with 2 in St. Steph's Bay and 5 on Admaston Reach. Juvenile Stonechat was note worthy, no sign of Whinchat which incidentally I didn't see yesterday.

At last caught up with a Turnstone tonight having missed at least four this year.

Not much bird wise apart from juvenile Mediterranean gull but nice Clouded Yellow butterfly was a surprise. With MDJ.

Some shots of this morning`s Caspian Gull.

My first Crossbills (5) at Blithfield since February '22 this morning. Not much else.

Strange sort of morning, set the scopes and there in the distance are two Spoonbills in with the sheep on the Blithe delta. Stayed for five minutes and flew off north east. Not much else of interest. With MDJ.

First returning Sanderling of the Autumn this morning. Only other birds of interest were Blackwit, Greenshank, Green sand, second year Caspian gull and juvenile Redstart. Surprisingly only one Little egret seen. With MPR and NT.

A Whimbrel and 8 Blackwits were the only birds of note this morning.

Record shots only i`m affraid.

This morning's Barwits were my earliest returning birds not only for Blithfield but also Staffordshire and the region. Also 5 Blackwit, 1 Whimbrel (8 reported from Tad), Curlew and 3 Greenshank.

It took two trips but managed some cropped shots of the Wood sandpiper at Blithers tonight, a species I didn`t see there last year.

Highlight of this morning was a returning Garganey also second summer Caspian gull , 2 Greenshank and several juvenile Redstarts. With MPR.

Second year Caspian gull still this morning.

First of the Autumn Green sand this morning also 3 Curlew over single Dunlin and a few ringies still. With MPR.

First sign of returning waders this morning with 3 Common sands and a Redshank being noted.

For some reason Blithers has become the capital of the region to see Little tern, this morning's three took this year's total to seven. Only other birds of note were 4 ringies, a GWE and 9 Little egrets.

Only birds of interest today was a second year Caspian gull, 43 ringies, 9 Dunlin and a very shy Cuckoo !!!

Only bird of note this morning was the forth Little tern of the year. Still 19 Dunlin, 40 ringies and a Redshank. The summering female Wigeon has been joined by a male.

Couple more shots of the Little stint.

This morning`s Little stint eventually performed well. Also this morning 100+ Ringies, ca30 Dunlin and 19 Sanderling. With MPR.

One of the 13 Sanderling this morning, other waders seen were 2 Whimbrel, 38 Dunlin and 89 Ringed plover. Also of interest Hobby and a very early juvenile Stonechat. With MDJ.

Waders today, Sanderling 21 (7,11,3). Dunlin 27, still 100+ ringies and a Common sand.

After a lot of disturbance this morning from a man in a boat the waders finally settled down and was able to count a minimum of 123 Ringed plover, 9 Sanderling and 28 Dunlin. Now 2 great Egrets.

Another wader filled morning unfortunately the same species again with 10 Sanderling, 23 Dunlin and 110 ringies being logged. First GWE back for a few weeks.

The highlight of this morning was the c95 ringed plover, this is the highest Spring total for me by far. I saw 111 on 31/08/2015 but the largest flock ever recorded was 166 on 23/08/1970. Also seen today, 2 Sanderling and 21 Dunlin.

Final wader count this morning Sanderling 5, Dunlin 13 and Ringies 37. So far this Spring I've seen 33 Sanderling and still no Turnstone. With MPR.

Some shots of Thursday`s Sanderling in Blithe Bay.

Some heavily cropped shots of the morning`s Garganeys in Blithe Bay.

2 Sanderling briefly in Blithe Bay this morning. With MPR.

Only birds I saw this morning were 2 Sanderling, 3 Dunlin, 5 Blackwit and 16 ringies. Didn't see the Little stint.

Little stint, Sanderling and 23 ringies in Tad Bay. With SAR.

Little tern Yeatsall Bank. With SAR.

Record shots of tonight`s Knots.

Also this morning, 2 blackwit, 2 common sand, 20+ Ringies and a single snipe.