Curlew Sandpipers

There has recently been a large influx of curlew sandpipers into the country.Lancashire has received good numbers with over two dozen birds present at the Morecambe and Allen hides at Leighton Moss.It was a bird I had always wanted to see and photograph at close quarters,previously only seeing them from beyond camera range.So it was with the excellent news from Leighton Moss that good friend Paul Foster and I visited  last week.It was to prove an excellent decision as the birds were still present and showing just a few feet from the hides.
They were mostly juvenile birds in very fresh plumage and had arrived recently from the breeding grounds in Arctic Russia.They are lovely birds to see with that wonderful curlew like bill and gorgeous feather colours and detail.Paul and I enjoyed a super session with the curlew sands taking hundreds of images a selection of which are shown above.Also present on the food rich mud were godwits ,ruff,dunlin ,redshank,spotted redshank and greenshank.These will be the subject of a future posting.The curlew sandpipers are still present as I write and stocking up on food for their continuing migration further south.Hope you enjoy my selected images from what was a super day out with excellent company and wonderful birds and thanks for looking in.