Yesterday evening I managed to secure a seat on the speed boat to the mainland and so left the island. The journey was smooth and fast but just as we were arriving in to Mersing a huge over head storm unleashed its wrath on us. The first stop was the port cafe - Garlic Bread, Pizza & 3 Diet Cokes hit the spot whilst watching the Man U V Everton game. This Morning I had some things to collect that had arrived recently for me but due to the time of tide I went out on to the northern beach to see if there were any waders present. Above shows you the northern beach at Mersing mid morning today. I get to see a lot of different fishermen around the world at various estuaries and river mouths but I have to say that today was one of the more interesting methods I have ever seen and very different to what I usually see off of Canvey Point.
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One of the first species of wader I saw this morning was the Grey Tailed Tattler above. It took me ages to get close enough to secure a shot due to the fisherman above walking along the tideline, however I was pleased with this sighting.
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A little while later I could see a group of Barwits in the distance and so made my way in their direction. I started scanning and was pleased to see 6 1st summer Great Knots present. I suspect these are the same group I saw nearly a month ago.
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It was nice seeing some waders and getting a much needed fix - other species seen today included 76 Terek Sandpipers, 27 Bar Tailed Godwits, 31 Common Greenshank, 3 Whimbrel, 2 Common Sandpipers & 1 PGP. The angle of the sun made getting good light extremely difficult and so in the end I just waded out in to the water up to my knees and then was able to look back at the beach and get good light and also good views.
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