Temminck's Stints at Dernford Farm Reservoir

31st August 2026

Quite a while since my last visit to Dernford and as for everywhere else the water levels were low. I was greeted by two of the usual suspects, a Pied Wagtail and one of the many juvenile Little Grebes.

The waders were concentrated in two groups, one in the north-west corner and the second half way up the eastern bank. I started in the north-west corner and this is where the trouble starts.

When I visited Dernford Reservoir for the first time about 10 years ago you could walk round and view the water's edge along the whole perimeter of the reservoir. Now the view is obscured for much of the bank due to the growth of willows on the water's edge and on the banks, and a planted Hawthorn hedge on top of the bank. As a result there are probably no more than six viewing points around the whole perimeter.

This was very evident when trying to view waders in the north-west corner as the closest viewing point was where the pipe enters the reservoir on the western bank, a distance of 160 yards as measured on Google Earth. However, I did manage to grab some record shots starting with a Green Sandpiper......................

....................a Ruff...................

.....................and a Wood Sandpiper.

The eastern bank was a lot easier with the waders being a mere 60 yards like this Common Sandpiper.

So now for the two Temminck's Stints which were in the same area as the Common Sandpiper. Sixty yards is still quite a distance for such a small bird but the glorious light helped a lot and I managed to get some shots.

So what a fantastic day with five species of wader, six if you include the Lapwings, at this tiny reservoir in the Cambridgeshire countryside, and good to have a catch-up with Stuart Fox, Paul Richardson and Stephen Elwell.