Essex birds are easy

Following yesterday's success with one American wader, today saw us down on the Blackwater Estuary looking for another, this time a Spotted Sandpiper.  Despite the vague pager directions, we finally made our way along the seawall, passing large flocks of Avocets, Brent Geese, Lapwing and Golden Plover to the gravel pits where it had last been seen.  Unfortunately, a dog walker had flushed it a few minutes before we arrived and only after a long cold wait did the bird show, very distantly at first on an island but eventually flew closer and fed along the near shoreline.  As I thought the bird was going to be distant I didn't bother taking the camera but as it was so close, I did manage a couple of acceptable digiscoped record shots with my phone!