The crystal ball works!

No sooner had I posted about return wader passage throwing up something interesting then a Terek Sandpiper gets found on the Dee off Banks Road! Al Conlin, Paul Grennard & me were checking the roosting terns at the West Kirby wader lagoon formerly known as the marine lake (but currently containing no lake), when a call alerted us to the presence of a Terek Sand! Unfortunately it flew off as the tide dropped. I made a half hearted attempt to locate it on the way home but getting soaked in a thunder storm severely dampened my enthusiasm.

A meeting in Belfast found me on the way to Liverpool airport just after 6 am when Mr Conlin rang to say it had been found again! Luckily the meeting finished early and the new Easyjet policy of being able to catch an earlier flight at no extra cost meant I got back into Liverpool airport earlier and after charging through Liverpool city centre made it to the spot around 18.45!
As the tide dropped the Terek headed north with its Redshank cohorts and I eventually caught up with it from the cliff top almost as far north as the Thurstaston visitor centre! A cracking Cheshire & Wirral bird and a county lifer as well!

Interestingly it was reported at West Kirby 'marine lake' around 14.30 which seems a bit strange. Why would it fly away from its preferred feeding grounds on the Dee all the way around the N Wirral cost, drop in in at West Kirby for 10 minutes and then fly all the way back to where it was originally seen at low tide? High tide would seem more likely! There again, birds are always unpredictable!

No photo's of the Terek unfortunately but Mark Payne has excelled himself with this graphic illustration of Royal Tern. Hopefully it'll tern up at West Kirby or Hilbre before long & this photo should serve as a reminder of the clinching identifying feature..............