With Sam’s football cancelled I had a free day. I’d planned to go to either the Norfolk or Suffolk coast but the weather looked awful so I had a sleep-in. When I eventually got up the weather was fine, so I went to the nearest bit of coast I could: Tollesbury in Essex, just an hour away, and a place I knew well. Perhaps not the best of choices as with the strong winds, no migrants were ever likely to be hanging around there. The migrants I did find during roughly a six mile walk were hundreds of Swallows(!), a Yellow Wagtail, and a Whimbrel.
During my walk, a Pectoral Sandpiper had turned up at nearby Abberton reservoir, so I went to have a look. No sign when I got there, but I did find a Black-necked Grebe.
Just before dusk, Tom found a Collared Dove in the garden that had obviously left the nest too early. The parents were still feeding it occasionally but it looked fairly week. With cats around we put it in a shoe box and roosted it in Tom’s room over night
