I wonder how the Black-winged Stilt got it's Name?

The Black-winged Stilt is a bird I've been hoping to see for a few years now and I thought I'd need to go down to Lincolnshire or Norfolk to eventually see one.  But success comes to those who wait and as luck would have it, one turned up fairly locally at Marshside RSPB in Southport this week.

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Look What's 'Terned' Up!

I was very surprised to see that a Black Tern had appeared at Carr Mill Dam near St. Helens this week as it seems very early for them.  Moreover, it seemed to be sticking around for a few days when normally the seem to fly though very quickly.  My only previous photographs of them were taken at Audenshaw Reservoirs in Manchester and so I hoped to improve on those record shots today.

Well the bird stayed distant whilst I was there and the light was variable, but I did get a couple of better shots than on previous attempts, but still not that great.  I tried a few locations on both sides of the water but although the bird often seems that it's closer on the 'other side', it rarely is!

Still, it was nice to catch up with Karl Bishop and learn about his migration to a compact mirrorless Olympus camera system from his big heavy Canon gear.  Something I'm almost considering myself now that Nikon seem to have produced a decent mirrorless camera with the new Z9. Not sure yet though.