At least five different breeding plumage male Ruff have now returned to the scrapes although they are in moult. Like most of the freshwater loving waders here they are feeding in a few places but spending most of the time between Top New Piece and the South Lake.
Additional sightings include the following.
South Lake
Moving between the duck marsh and scrape- 21 Pied Wagtail, Spotted Redshank, 48 Redshank, 4 Little-ringed Plover, 4 Green Sandpiper, 12 Teal, Egyptian Goose with 5 young- North causeway busy with sleeping waterfowl, same on grassy areas near Hogarth Hide
Tack Piece
Little ringed Plover, 5 Green Sandpiper, 4 Oystercatcher and a few Teal on the scrape.
Rushy Hide/Peng Observatory
Busy with Avocet, Tufted Duck, Shelduck, Mute Swan, Gadwall and Mallard broods.
Top New Piece from Zeiss and Van de Bovenkamp Hides or Estuary Tower
Four male Ruff, a Common Sandpiper, three breeding plumage Dunlin, a Snipe, 4 Avocet, an Oystercatcher, flocks of 84 Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Lapwing and 53 Teal and later in the day a Little-ringed Plover.
Dumbles foreshore over high tide
60 Curlew (four ringed birds, x1 mud stained yellow flag, x2 mud stained white flag/blue rings which are unreadable and Lime L above, white R above), 11 Great Black backed Gull, adult Common Gull and a few Herring Gulls, 41 Shelduck.
Kingfisher Hide
Increased Kingfisher activity at the nest hole, plenty of fish being taken in to feed the second brood of the year.
Discovery Hide- regular passes by Kingfishers carrying fish to a second nest site (nest not viewable unfortunately).