Sandpiper

It was a dull day, with rain forecast for later, but this afternoon I packed my big lens and tripod into the boot and headed out to try my luck for a blip at Upton Warren Wetland Reserve.

Situated about halfway between Bromsgrove and Droitwich, the reserve is managed by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust. It has two distinct parts: the freshwater Moors Pools to the north and the saline Flashes to the south.

I set myself up in one of the hides by the Flashes. There were lots of birds on the water, though nothing terribly unusual - lapwing, shoveller, curlew, snipe and various gulls and geese.

For my blip I have chosen this common sandpiper. It is a bit grainy because I needed a very high ISO speed to use the maximum zoom of my lens in the poor light conditions.