Long-billed Dowitchers aren't particularly rare and are perhaps one of the commoner North American vagrant waders to make it to our shores. They're always nice to see though - especially one thats only 15 minutes from home! I've seen several over the years in Cheshire but this was an adult in its resplendent breeding plumage so well worth the trip.
Long-billed Dowitcher was probably the 2nd North American wading bird I saw in the UK following a self-found Pectoral Sandpiper at Bury St Edmunds sugar beet factory settling ponds, Suffolk, when I was about 15. I could probably claim my first Dowitcher as self found as well. My maternal Grandparents lived in Hayle, Cornwall and we used to spend many holidays at this birding mecca. No sooner had I arrived then I'd be off birding for the day, invariably with a piece of grandmas fruit cake tucked in a pocket to fortify me & my old Alladin thermos in my rucksack along with my trusty 'A field guide to the birds of Britain & Europe' by Roger Tory Peterson, Guy Mountfort & P A D Hollom - a definite upgrade from the Observers book of Birds!
The lane virtually opposite their house led down to the estuary and my usual route took me down here, along the estuary to Carsnew Pool and then onto Copperhouse Creek. We'd arrived for Easter in March 1978 and as usual I spent most of my time either birding on the estuary or fishing off the quay! I was checking out the waders on Carsnew Pool when I came across a bird I didn't immediately recognise. By a process of elimination I came to the surprising conclusion it was my first Long-billed Dowitcher! After watching it for about an hour I carried on to Copperhouse Creek where I found a group of birders with scopes obviously searching for something. That something turned out to be a Long-billed Dowitcher............cue a sudden exodus as I announced I'd been watching it on Carsnew Pool!
Anyway, I digress. The latest Dowitcher was probably the 5th or 6th for the reserve with the first being in 1993 when it was still Inner Marsh Farm. I've seen at least four in Cheshire with two together at Inner Marsh Farm in 2009. This latest one was hanging around with Black-tailed Godwits and although quite distant and in bright sunshine it looked stunning in its summer plumage.
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