Dunlin #83

No jobs done today - we took advantage of the wonderful weather while it lasts and went to Hoylake with the intention of looking for some waders at high tide. When we arrived the tide was still quite a way off so my husband suggested we went to Red Rocks instead as he had seen it on the map last night. We only meant to take a quick look and then return to the King's Gap, but it was so nice that we just carried on walking. We met a couple of guys with a scope who were doing the WeBS count (a regular Wetland bird survey) and we chatted to them for quite a while. They said that there had been some curlew sandpipers seen at West Kirby Marine Lake so we continued on there to see if we could find them. Neither of us had seen one before, so didn't really know what to look for, but when we came upon a load of birds on the rocks, we started scanning. There were plenty of turnstones and redshank, but there were also a handful of much smaller waders. They did not all look exactly alike so we were hopeful that one of them at least was a Curlew Sandpiper and not just a Dunlin. There was another guy with a large camera who was also taking photographs, but he didn't seem much more knowledgeable than us! So, I just took some photos and tried to match them up with stuff on the internet once I got home. I think this is the most likely candidate (or the one in extras), but I really don't know. Either way, it's number 82 on my list of blipped birds this year.  If anyone knows for sure, please let me know. 

Edit: I have now been informed that the main blip is a Dunlin and the extra is a curlew sandpiper so at least I managed to see one even if it’s not my main blip.