Shoreline Wader

Having a wonderful time on the lake shore this afternoon this tiny fairly newly hatched little Dunlin was paddling and dibbling in the mud. Very tame and not to say very cute, it let me get up close and sit enjoying taking his photograph. 

I just love the markings on his feathers and it was such a treat to see it up close. Normally I have seen them in flocks flying like wisps of smoke in the wind, skimming over the water then sweeping upwards to change course only to dive again. 

The RSPB say there are 9,600 breeding pairs in Britain with 350,000 over wintering here.