Apart from 2 Ringed Plover and a juv Shelduck > west, It had been quiet for the first 2hr 20min of my visit, when this 3CY Yellow-legged Gull dropped in for ten minutes mid morning, 8th site record.
Two minutes later, a Wood Sandpiper appeared in flight, calling loudly and repeatedly over the M6 end of No1 Pit, then did a close flypast, still calling as it gained height, crossed the M6 and headed SW downriver. Good to see Brockholes coming back to some kind of form re Wood Sand following four blank years (2006-2009 inclusive), with records in both passage periods this year. There have now been 16 records since Aug 1998, totalling in excess of 20 individuals.
As the weather warmed considerably for an hour or so late morning, 9 Buzzard could be seen in the area, and a distant large Raptor in heathaze to the NE of the site at 11:00 was almost certainly a Marsh Harrier but wasn't clinched. A Raven also circled to the south of the site.
The last bit of action noted was at 11:59, when a short shower forced 10 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Dunlin and 2 Snipe to drop low over the site, but didn't landed.
