"Show us a leg"..........

A text from Wayne during the week fancying a day out on Sunday had he and Dan picking me up at Sarn at 8.00am heading west with our first stop being Crymlyn Burrows for the high tide wader roost.
After a trudge across the dunes we were greeted by the sight of several large groups of waders flying across the tideline and coming to rest conveniently in front of us.
There were large numbers of Dunlin,Ringed Plover and Sanderling with singles of Knot and Black-tailed Godwit,unfortunately no Curlew Sandpipers or Little Stints or anything a little more exotic !!
Whilst Dan and Wayne viewed through 'scopes from a distance I attempted to get a little closer and managed a few shots in the grey gloom that followed us around all day,what a contrast to a couple of weeks ago when I visited in great light,it's incredible the difference it makes.

We moved on to Burry Port planning to then call back to WWT Llanelli where two Grey Phalaropes had been found on Saturday.
A scan of the beach on a dropping tide revealed large numbers of Oystercatchers and the largest group of Cormorants that I've seen,there was also a nice group of 39 Sandwich Terns as well as the odd Godwit and usual gulls but all too distant to try and photograph.
Upon arriving at Llanelli we bumped into Martin Bell and Phil Hill who accompanied us to the British Steel hide passing a few of the Carmarthenshire birders on the way who confirmed that one of the Grey Phalaropes was still present together with the long staying Lesser Yellowlegs.
Matt Hunter also turned up a little later and was well pleased to see the phalarope which was a "lifer" for him.
The phalarope was showing well although distantly on one of the rear pools although the 'yellowlegs took a bit of finding in the saltmarsh scrape vegetation in front of the hide.
Both were too distant for any quality photographs but I managed a couple of "record" shots.

There was also a good selection of waders on view including a Ruff,Greenshanks,Redshanks,Spotted Redshanks and good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits and having "filled our boots" and said goodbye to Martin and Phil we decided to finish the day with a stroll down to Kenfig rivermouth.
As we strolled down to the rivermouth we noticed several dragonfly species on the wing and also came across a rather natty Great Green Bush-cricket on the tarmac path which obliged for a photograph........

The rivermouth area was quite disappointing although a flyby pair of Kingfishers was a nice surprise and at least the walk down and back was good exercise.
We called it a day after that and after dropping me off at Sarn we all headed for home,it was just a pity that Geth's rugby committments in the morning prevented him from coming along as he surely would have showed us all up and found a rarity,maybe another day.........

"High tide at Crymlyn Burrows"

Myself and fellow "togger" Peter Morgan paid a high tide visit to Crymlyn Burrows this morning,plenty of Dunlin,Ringed Plover,some Sanderling,couple of Godwits (too distant to ID),good numbers of gulls,plenty of Oystercatchers,a single Curlew and a neat passage Northern Wheatear dropped in on the edge of the beach.