A Wood Sandpiper at Broom

25th July 2022

Although it is only 30 miles and 35 minutes away it is difficult to believe that this is my first ever visit to Broom Gypsy Lane East and what a fantastic place it is. The gravel extraction operations are now complete and hopefully some site management will soon be put in place to stop it maturing into a heavily wooded lake.

Not too surprising to see a couple of Little Egrets there but luckily quite happy to perform for some shots.

Interestingly there were quite a few Common Terns loafing around on the main scrape in the middle of the pit, but others were flying in from Gypsy Lane West to fish in the shallow water of Gypsy Lane East and then taking the fish back for their young. Surely there must be fish in Gypsy Lane West, after all it is a fishery.

Not long after I arrived a single Hobby shot through the site and I was able to grab a shot in the gloom before it departed and was not seen again.

There were two pairs of Oystercatchers on site, both feeding on the muddy shores that were drying out and beginning to green up.

A single Redshank brought the wader tally to four species which included many Lapwings, all of which kept their distance.

But the star of the show and the primary target today was the juvenile Wood Sandpiper which spent all day at the centre of the scrape, a distance of about 50 yards, so I was quite pleased to get these shots which were helped along when the sun came out.

Well, what a fantastic place and I hope a Management Plan can be agreed soon as, in the words of the Terminator, I'll be back!!!!