As a novice birder, I have really only ever been to the hides at Marshside - and loved the views of Wigeon in the winter, and Avocets in spring. Early autumn tends to be quite quiet I guess, and for a change I thought I'd walk round the perimeter of the reserve including the path from the cattle pens to the sewage works on the eastern side. What looked like featureless marshland produced sightings of plenty of Lapwing, about 8 Curlew both feeding and in flight (always great to watch), a few pairs of Teal as well as Wigeon in full eclipse plumage, Canada (of course) and Pink Foot geese flying over, several flocks of starlings, one or two pairs of waders I could not confidently identify (why are waders so hard?!), three wheatear together on a fence - seemingly all females or possibly immature? - and the highlight, my first ever sighting of a Hobby: very fast, causing some consternation among the waders, and nevertheless seen really well in bins.
Thanks to the people on duty at Sandgrounders who helped confirm identifications. It all looked very quiet but it proved quite an exciting morning!