Two days later I made it up there to see them for myself. Knowing which hide they were seen from I knew the possibility of close photographs was slim. Finally looking through the hatch I was proved right. The birds were busily feeding a very great distance away. Not to worry though. These birds were a lifer for me and just to see them was pleasure enough.

Waiting patiently the stilts did come a little closer. Wading amongst the avocets it was like we were watching a scene from the continent rather than the north west where the weather was very grey and dull. Seen next to the redshank in the photo above it is easy to get a comparison of these beautiful birds.

Seeing the stilts drift nearer and nearer we were getting ever hopeful of some decent shots. They were busily feeding and they were heading in our direction! Then in the flick of an eye our hopes were dashed. A female sparrowhawk flew across fast and low and scared up all the birds on the lake. Any other time I would have felt thrilled by this hunter putting in an appearance but this time it just led to frustration. I loved watching the stilts flying with their pink legs stretched out behind them but sadly they were going in the wrong direction and put down in the water even further away than before. No worries though maybe I will get another opportunity to see them. Noone has any idea how long these birds will stay or whether they will be back. Only a few years ago Avocets were rare here and now there are around twenty of them. Maybe in years to come the stilts will be another success story. At the time of writing (May 18th) all three birds are still there.