Frampton Marsh is superb! Wader passage is in full swing now and the interesting waders are starting to show in amongst them. A couple of Pectoral Sandpipers in Lincs started to spark my interest and when a Broad-billed Sandpiper joined a Pectoral Sandpiper at Frampton last weekend, I had to twitch it with Jonnie Fisk. The view from the 360 hide was excellent with a lot of wader mud right in front of the hide. Both birds were only about 60 feet out from the hide and eventually the Pec came to 50ft and the Broad-billed only about 40ft. Really exceptional views of two fabulous waders. Pectoral Sandpiper in particular is a bird I've always thought were one of the smartest looking waders to occur in Britain. Never tire of seeing them. This is also the second Broad-billed Sandpiper I've seen and the second I've seen at Frampton this year! In addition to the two stars, a Little Stint, 2 Curlew Sandpiper Spotted Redshank and several Ruff made for a lovely passage as well as loads of juvenile Little Ringed Plover, again, in front of the hide which made for great viewing.
Later in the week, an adult White-rumped Sandpiper, presumably from Snettisham, appeared on the same pool, but a little further back. I managed to fit in a flying visit and the scope views were decent as it fed amongst Dunlin. The weather was poor and photography was very difficult, so I won't insult you with hideous record video grabs that could be anything. I have only seen one White-rumped Sandpiper before, at Hoylake in 2012, and I was struck by how skinny that was. The same can be said with this bird. Compared to the Dunlin, they are so slender and with the massive long primary projection, they just look so long. The full supercillium stood out even at that range and the monotonal cold grey stood out against the ginger juvenile Dunlin and brown and black-bellied adults Dunlin. Very smart bird
