July is a month when waders begin their migration south, from their breeding grounds and it is a good time to see some scarce species as well as some commoner ones in near breeding plumage. Many of the earliest migrating waders are adults that have failed in their breeding attempts as well as some successful breeders and juveniles meaning that their are a confusing variety of plumages for birders to test their skills with at this time of the year.

Having seen a nice Spotted Redshank in near breeding plumage when birding at Oare Marshes about 2 weeks ago I went back to this site today which is often a great place to see passage waders in late July. By far the most numerous species of wader today was Black-tailed Godwit, with a large flock of more than 400 birds resting and feeding in the shallow water, but as usual there were a good number of species to see, including a few scarce ones.Avocets were also very much in evidence as were more than 100 Common Redshank and small flocks of Dunlin, totaling around 50 birds. Smaller numbers of Lapwing, 8 Golden Plover, 1 Oystercatcher and a Little Ringed Plover were also easily seen and with many birds being very active and feeding good views of all of these were easily obtained.

Sometimes just hanging around can be a good tactic and today I just stood and kept scanning the same area and in that time birds were on the move with 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 Common Terns and a Little Egret arriving and when something scared the whole multitude of birds I managed to spot a tiny wader wheeling around with the Dunlin. On landing I was able to confirm that it was a Little Stint, a scarce but regular passage migrant at Oare. Further scanning of the waders after they had redistributed themselves around the reserve revealed 2 different Curlew Sandpipers, 1 Green Sandpiper and 3 Ruff.

Lots of other birds occur at Oare but due to windy weather it was very difficult to see many passerines although I did get views of Skylark, Whitethroat, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting and Sedge Warbler.

A nice morning birding at Oare and I am sure that I will be returning to this nice Kent Wildlife Trust reserve again in the near future in hope that something else of interest will have arrived.