Got it back.....

 I know exactly where I was on the 22nd July 2010. I was at Dungeness in Kent. The reason I was there was a white-tailed lapwing, a very rare bird, had been on the ARC pit since the 11th July. I can't remember why (possibly due to working) but this was the first time I could get down to go for it. Problem was, I missed it by a day. Seen on the 21st but no sign the day I went!!! This was the last time one has been seen in the UK - till now. One has dropped in to Blacktoft Sands, a small RSPB reserve in Yorkshire. I had a horrible feeling of deja vu all over again though, as it had first appeared on the 26th. A combination of Bank Holiday and visitors meant the first time I could get to go was the 31st, a gap of 5 days. It was with some trepidation  therefore that I left home about 4.30 to drive up the A1, a route I have trod many times in the search for Albert the albatross! It was an easy drive and by the time I got to the car park about 7.40 RBA was already reporting it as still showing. In theory the reserve didn't open till 8 but there were already a dozen or so cars and a few people getting their gear out and heading into the reserve. I spurned coffee and yomped the short walk to the hide. I have to admit I wasn't that chatty as I steamed past three other birders. Over the Bank holiday weekend it was a bit manic with people queuing to even get into the hide so I didn't want to miss out. Fortunately I was early enough and the hide was only a quarter full. I grabbed a good spot on the lower deck of the Xerox hide and peered out into what was a very dull, misty day. The bloke next to me said it had just disappeared off to our right. Surely I hadn't missed it by a few minutes!After what was probably only two or three anxious minutes a brownish wader strolled into view in the channel opposite us - the white-tailed plover. It had only taken 11 years but I'd finally gripped it back.It is a really handsome bird, on long yellow legs and with a relatively short bill. It is now of the few lapwings to be found in deeper water, picking flies off the surface. It breeds in Iran. Iraq and Russia and the Russian birds migrate to India or northern Africa in Winter. It is presumably one of this population that has got lost and ended up in Yorkshire! 

It spent most of the time just wandering around the reed edges, occasionally bending down to pluck a tasty morsel off the surface of the water. The pool was quite busy with other waders including a green sandpiper which kept even closer to the reeds

and little egrets patrolling the deeper channels.

Mostly the lapwing just walked around the pools but a couple of times it did decide to fly across them. You could then see then see why it is called white-tailed!

By now I had been in the hide almost an hour and it was totally full. You could see people starting to queue outside and the RSPB volunteers were marshalling them. I had hoped to get a bit better light as the weather had been awful but it showed no sign of improving so I decided to vacate my seat and head off. The car park was pretty full by the time I left with more arriving to join the queue waiting to pay homage to the star bird.

I stopped off at Frampton Marsh on the way back. It was pretty quiet there with no sign of the big flocks of knot, presumably due to the tide conditions. There were lots of little stints though, upwards of a dozen or more, scattered around the various pools. They were mainly in the company of dunlins, their larger brethren.

They are tiny little birds, easily told from the other waders on size alone.

You could even pick them out in flight as the flocks moved around the marsh.

I didn't stay too long and headed back home a very happy man. Another lifer for the UK taking me to 390 and getting very close to the magic 400 mark. Can't see it happening this year but next Spring must be a realistic target.