Buff breasted Sandpiper at Colliford

After a manic day at work I decided to have a quick look at Colliford Reservoir this evening as it looked so good there last week . Starting at the Loveney reserve as soon as I got out of the car I could hear waders so I started to walk down to the shoreline checking as I went . There really was a cracking variety of waders on the shoreline and in the hour and a half before sunset I picked up 11 species including this little beauty :

                                                   
 A Buff Breasted Sandpiper! My favorite wader is always a pleasure to see and even more special to find . Note the small size in comparison to the Dunlin and Ringed Plover , the plain faced appearance , yellow legs and also in the field its characteristic busy feeding style , they almost look like clockwork toys as they busily rush about . This was in fact the 7th Buff Breasted Sandpiper I have seen at Colliford down the years so it really is a great spot for this scarce American species . I also saw 1 European Golden Plover, 28 Lapwing , 9 Common Ringed Plover, 2 Curlew, 1 Ruff , 4 Dunlin, 6 Common Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper and 1 Greenshank.  Not a bad way to spend an evening...