After the unforeseen influx of Baird's Sandpipers across the UK which had begun during the previous week, I had been itching to get a slice of the action for myself. Luckily, the Cheshire bird at Coxbank did the decent thing and stayed long enough for myself and Marc to attempt a casual weekend twitch.
After an hour or so drive to the site, we parked up the mini and walked over to the site where the Sandpiper had been spotted in recent days. As luck would have it, the bird was showing upon arrival. A birdwatcher with a telescope (an instrument that neither of us had) let us get a nice view through his telescope - one in which we could make out clearly the black speckles on the bird's flanks. Seeing the Baird's Sandpiper through our binoculars proved to be a somewhat more tricky affair, with the small stature and brown colour making the bird blend remarkably well with the surrounding mud. Yet we certainly couldn't complain with the views that we enjoyed in perfect light with the bird showing on the closest end of the mud. Satisfied with our fill and knowing we would be unable to top the views that we had in the telescope, we decided to head onto the next location.
Staying in the county we decided to head to Sandbach flashes next where there was very little of note. The visit mostly comprised of a few Jays as well as the usual Mallard and Teal on the water. Leaving after this brief excursion we stopped at a petrol station in Nantwich so Marc could secure Oasis tickets - he did so successfully.
Next we hit up Marbury Country Park with the hope of seeing one of the local Kingfishers which frequents the lake. As it turns out, lightning can strike twice, as once more we were greeted with views of our target bird upon arrival. The Kingfisher sat nicely in a tree in front of the hide before doing a disappearing act and eventually turning up further back in the reeds.
As we greedily waited for further views of the bird, other species started to reveal themselves: a Nuthatch snuck behind the viewing screen whilst a Sparrowhawk did a brief flyby. With large numbers of Jays being reported across the country, Marbury was no exception. At least half a dozen or so were seen flying between the trees. Yet best of all was the falcon sp. which flew past the hide, eventually rearing back into view to reveal itself as a late Hobby. Having not seen one in a long time, both Marc and I were fairly chuffed with this sighting which rounded off a fantastic day in a sunny, autumnal Cheshire...
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