The two shallower pools attract wading birds, especially green and common sandpipers.

Among the more distinctive species found along the river are sand martins, common sandpipers, little ringed plovers, dippers, kingfishers and grey wagtails.

In the spring and summer, watch for kingfishers, common sandpipers, redshanks, reed, sedge and grasshopper warblers and whinchats.

And echoing across Loch Garten I heard the last wintering whooper swans and the trills of common sandpipers.

Watch for redstarts, grey wagtails, common sandpipers, dippers, pied fly-catchers, woodpeckers and tree pipits in summer, and goosanders on the lake.

Changing water levels occasionally expose the reservoir banks, which become a popular feeding ground for small wading birds, including common sandpipers, green sandpipers and little ringed plovers.

The reservoirs attract Mallards, and also Teal, Pochard, Common Sandpipers, Black-headed Gulls and Canada Geese.

Three pairs of oyster-catchers were sighted around the main region and a total of 13 common sandpipers and a flight of 18 turnstones, most colourful birds and on passage at this time when they occur regularly at Abberton.

The Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) is a small Palearctic wader.

Actitis hypoleucos (Common Sandpiper)

Intrageneric hybridization has also been reported between Common (Actitis hypoleucos) and Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularia) .