Wonderful Waders on the Esplanade

Tish had had a stomach bug this week and had to collect a doctors certificate today - she is feeling better but as she has been vomiting she is not allowed back into work until next week. Before going to the doctors we called in briefly at the Esplanade. Tish took her Kindle and I of course had my bins.
The tide was going out which meant that the waders were close in, almost too close at times! The Esplanade is a world famous site for passage waders and is probably the most relaxing birding you can do. You  sit on a nice bench in the shade and watch a range of species that a birder from the Northern Hemisphere could only dream of in the UK

Great Knot - this bird was quite obliging and was not feeding as rapidly as the others (probably due to fact that he only had one leg)

Lesser Sandplover - there were small numbers of these around, some of which were starting to moult into breeding plumage

Terek Sandpiper - there were several of these feeding very actively along the waters edge, which made getting a decent picture virtually impossible.

Grey-tailed Tattler

All of the above are on the UK list each with fewer than five records but here they are routine and easily seen!