A fantastic mornings birding !
First off a text from Tim about 7 BAR TAILED GODWITS thru Calvert had me rushing to Linford ! at least 3 GARDEN WARBLERS were singing on the reserve , including a very confiding one to the left of the near hide that is nest building ! , 3 CETTIS WARBLERS were also singing , 1 CUCKOO was Cuckoo-ing throughout the morning , 1 Willow Warbler , 1 Goldcrest and 3 Chiffchaffs were also proclaiming Territory ( Rob also had 1 GRASSHOPPER WARBLER still ) Not long after sitting down (07:20) an ARCTIC TERN battled through west covering the entire reserve in under 15 seconds ! , this was followed by further 4 ARCTIC TERNS that flew east at 07:32. Bouyed up by this I started scanning in earnest and was soon rewarded as a small duck headed in from the north (07:40) and pitched up on the opposite side of the bund ! a smashing Drake GARGANEY ! it proceeded to preen and then dissappeared. just as I was putting a text out , I glanced up and noticed a medium sized wader approaching from the east , it swung in low and circled the bund twice before heading back off east (07:42) ! Although it was orange and grey , it was not the expected Bar Tailed Godwit, but a fantastic Summer Plumaged RED KNOT ! ,
Life at linford after that seemed a bit dull ;-) With just 2 Common Sandpipers , 3 Little Egrets , 10+ Common Terns , 1 SWIFT and 4 Swallows.
Moving on to the Excavation pits at Newport Pagnall we were greeted with a GREENSHANK , 5 LRP's, 2 Little Egrets and a few Sand Martins
Stony Stratford held the pair of Oystercatchers Manor Farm hosted a Sum Plum DUNLIN , an OYSTERCATCHER flew in and a Common Sandpiper , LRP and a few Lapwings were the best of the rest Many Hirundines (Simon Nichols)