Returning Sanderlings

Lade - warm, milky sunshine, e 2 - The much vaunted one-day heat wave enveloped the Marsh overnight with a muggy feel from the off and plenty to sift through and deliberate over in the garden moth trap. Quite a few species of waves were present including Satin and Small Dusty; also new for the year were Peppered Moth, Toadflax Pug and the pyralid Sitochroa palealis.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker in the garden firs was noteworthy, but typical at this time of year as juveniles disperse from woodlands.
Over the pits we found a fresh Pyramidal Orchid beside the main track where scores of common grassland butterflies were already on the wing in the hot sunshine.
By early afternoon the temperature in the back garden touched 26C and the only sensible option was to stay in the shade and do as little as possible, which was no real challenge for Barney who flopped on the cool, wooden floor in the lounge until evening time.

                                Marbled White, Lade

                                Peppered Moth

                                Pyramidal Orchid, Lade

                                Sitochroa palealis

This evening with temperatures still in the low 20`s, and a warm wind blowing up from the south, we walked the beach from Lade to the Pilot and back with some success. Amongst the non-breeding Curlews and Oystercatchers, were 10 Ringed Plovers, 12 Dunlin, and the first returning four Sanderlings, all adults still in breeding plumage and a most welcome sight they were too.
Also noted two Med Gulls and 10 Sandwich Terns out on the sands.

                               Sanderlings and Ringed Plover, Lade Bay