In praise of green sandpipers

Last week I was attending a meeting at our Rainham Marshes reserve, it was a good meeting but you don’t want to hear about that!

At the end of our discussions, we had a chance for a head-clearing walk around the reserve; it was a lovely day, until about ten minutes before the meeting’s end. And then the sky darkened – not just slightly, Lord of the Rings darkened.  Black clouds with bulbous bottoms massed and down came the rain.  We pressed on.

We made it to the Marshland Discovery zone.  The rain slanted across the landscape obscuring all but the muddy-fringed pool in front of us.  Two moorhens and coot were all we could see, until, entering stage right, a green sandpiper dropped in to land at the water’s edge.

Waders, I’m told, are not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love ‘um.  Their incredible journeys inspire us and their presence is always a sign that the place is special.

After a few minutes, we left the sandpiper pottering along the muddy fringe and trudged back though driving rain.  A small flock of lapwings flickered over head heading out into the middle of the marshes to join many more.

Special birds, special places.

If it’s half term for you – get out and clear your head at Rainham or any of our other nature reserves.

And then, if that’s not enough, on 30 October, I hope you can join us in celebrating Feeds the Birds Day.  This special day is a great chance to get the garden ready to help birds (and all the other wildlife) through the winter.  This year, we’re running lots of Feed the Birds Day events across the UK both on the day and in the week leading up to it.  Click here to find out more and I hope you can come along.

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