Whimbrel

Yesterday turned out to be a very exciting day at Warnham. I got there about mid-dayish and thought I'd spotted a friend's car in the car-park, so set off to find her. I was in the Heron hide when there was a bit of a commotion on the mill pond and I looked up to see the terns chasing a bird up and down the length of it. The terns are very persistent and this poor bird was doing everything it could to escape. Eventually, the terns left it alone, and the very tired bird decided to perch right outside the hide. I had no idea what it was, but learned a little later it's a Whimbrel. It was only there for about a minute as try as it might, it could not get a purchase with it's footing which kept just sliding down the branch. It caused quite a stir! Apparently, the last time one was seen there was about 15 years ago!