Double Yank

An early start hunting for Tree Pipit and Cuckoo at Bradley Fell ended in failure. It was a bit wet and windy, so very little was singing. A Wheatear at Lamesley was my first there for the year.

I was just about to crack on with decorating when news of a Lesser Yellowlegs had me on the way to Newton scrape. The bird was on show as soon as I got there, giving cracking views as it fed along the near shore.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Not much else on the scrape other than 2 Common Sandpiper and a female Pintail, so I started to head off in the strengthening wind. I'd just got to the end of the scrape when a wader dropped in. From the colour I was expecting a Wood Sandpiper, but lifting my bins I had a belting Pectoral Sandpiper. A bit far for photos, but you can see what it is.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper

A few stops on the way south. A Great White Egret was at East Chevington, where a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling. 2 Pintail were at a wind-swept Druridge and 10 Avocet at Cresswell.

Great White Egret

A quick check around Gateshead revealed a Whimbrel at Burdon Moor.

Whimbrel