Great Spotted Woodpecker #56

It was early out and a drive to RSPB Marshside with my next door neighbour this morning to see what was about. 
There was a nice Spoonbill preening and a very distant Black necked grebe which was nice, but the lack of water played a big part in the lack of waders that were about. 
We then went to WWT Martin Mere to try and get a bit more birding in before the rain came. The main Discovery hide gave better views of another Black necked grebe, but still too far for my small camera.
Over in the Janet Kear feeding station, this male Great Spotted Woodpecker was showing nicely along with some juvenile robins and many tits. 
I wouldn't normally go over to the Gordon Taylor hide as it's never really given me anything I couldn't find elsewhere on the reserve, but the main pool in front of the Discovery hide is being fed with water from somewhere and really the tap needs turning off as it's way too high now with no margins for waders - the exact opposite problem from Marshside. Somebody had mentioned that the area in front of this hide had yielded a few waders this morning so off we trekked. 
Sure enough, we immediately saw a couple of Ruff and a pair of juvenile ringed plovers. On closer inspection, we found SIX Green sandpipers and a Wood Sandpiper just across the pool(3 in extras) and a handful of avocets in the distance. I'm glad we made the effort as it gave me the green sandpiper I'd been looking for, having already ticked off the wood sandpiper a couple of weeks ago. .