Stilt Sandpiper

Colin and I went down to Dorset and Hampshire yesterday. Everyone went to Weymouth for the Ross's Gull, but we went elsewhere.
Many years ago we saw a Stilt Sandpiper at Minmere, back in 1997-an adult in breeding plumage. This required a long queue for the crowded hide, and rather brief views. While there have been a few since then, we never went for any of them, so one turning up last autumn was very tempting. However connecting with it was rather hit and miss at times, as it ranged over a large area. Rather unusually though, it stuck around the Poole Harbour area for a long time and then relocated to Christchurch Harbour and Stanpit Marsh where it seems to have settled for the winter.
Finding it proved to be a bit tricky when we got there-we were told it had flown down into the harbour, and  parking and access point was difficult, but we eventually got there. Joined by another birder, scanning the harbour from Fishermans Bank, we picked up lots of waders of course-Dunlin, Redshank, Ruff, Curlew, Oystercatchers and Ringed Plovers. A few Egrets were feeding-the Spoonbill unfortunately had disappeared, and there were lots of gulls milling around. I eventually found the Stilt Sandpiper at the northern end of the bank among some Black Tailed Godwits so we made our way up there and spent around an hour hoping it would get a bit closer as the tide dropped. It didn't and I had to use the digiscoping adaptor to get the images. The good light helped to keep the shutter speed up, but with the bird actively feeding and always on the move, getting sharp images was difficult, and the distance added to the problems.

The Ross's Gull was rather elusive all morning, and there was no news of the Thayer's Gull either so we ended up at Acres Down in the New Forest for an hour or so. The sunshine was lovely, the cold breeze less so and this presumably kept the small birds down. Apart from a few Chaffinch and Robins, there were a few Goldcrests in the evergreens, and a flyover Crossbill. A distant large chunky finch could have been a Hawfinch or a Crossbill but I never saw where it landed. The sunshine did bring out a couple of Buzzards and one Goshawk but it was hard work so we called it a day.