At about 5pm I went to check out Swinemoor again to see if any more migrants had turned up. The answer was no, but yesterday’s Ruff was still around and a large flock of about 700 Golden Plovers were getting ready for the night. 2 Snipe were busy nest making and the Lapwings were invloved in all sorts of breeding behaviour, including chasing away Carrion Crows attempting to raid their nests. The only other waterbirds were 5 Redshank, 4 Black-headed Gulls, a few Mallard and some Moorhens.

The most alarming thing today was how the water level had gone down in just one day. Although a lot of wet habitat remains, the amount of open water had decreased by about 50% since yesterday. I guess the pasture master must have opened up the drains to prepare the area for the horses which will arrive soon.