September for me is shaping up to be a productive month for seeing good, by which I mean unusual, birds in Britain. So far there has been a Yellow Warbler at Portland in Dorset which I narrowly missed, causing much heartache, but I have seen a Woodchat Shrike, Baird's Sandpiper, American Redstart and Grey Phalarope this month to compensate for the disappointment of missing the Yellow Warbler.
Meeting Peter yesterday at Grimsbury Reservoir on his way to see the Grey Phalarope, he enquired if I would be interested in going to Lodmoor RSPB near Weymouth in Dorset, as two rare North American waders, probably displaced by the recent hurricanes on the other side of the Atlantic, were currently on view there.
I was not going to turn down the tempting possibility of enjoying a double dose of major rarities so we agreed to meet the next morning at his home in Garsington at 9am and drive to Lodmoor. I negotiated the rush hour and school run traffic to Peter's home and we duly set off in Peter's car, on schedule for a three hour drive to Lodmoor.
It was very windy, a remnant of the gales of last night, but mild and not unpleasant in the sunshine as we left the car by the northern boundary of Lodmoor Reserve and took to the footpath winding round its perimeter. Following the path as it meandered through reeds and bushes we eventually came to a small knot of birders who were looking out over a shallow lagoon and some muddy scrapes bordered on the far side by reeds and sedge.
 |
| Lodmoor RSPB - looking southeast |
It took all of a few seconds to locate the juvenile Stilt Sandpiper, feeding energetically, probing its long bill in the shallow water and mud right up to its forehead, in search of food. In some respects its rapid feeding motion with its bill held vertically resembled a dowitcher's similarly energetic probing action but the sandpiper's long, pale yellow legs and slim, elongated build imparted an elegance to its form quite unlike any dowitcher, as it waded, often belly deep, back and fore in the water. A Common Redshank initially kept it company and the larger, bulkier form of the Common Redshank only served to emphasise the Stilt Sandpiper's delicate and graceful movements.
 |
| Common Redshank and Stilt Sandpiper |
Plumage wise it showed a marked greyish tinge, intermixed with brown on its upperparts and the brown and white fringes to its upperpart feathers created a distinct scalloped look as well as forming two distinct white lines either side of its mantle. The underparts were off white, the breast heavily streaked brown with some streaking extending onto its pale flanks. Very noticeable were the broad and quite long, white supercilia running from in front of the eyes to the rear of its ear coverts. The bill was long and black and very slightly decurved at the tip giving it a faint droopy look .When it flew its feet stuck out well beyond the tail and it displayed a prominent white rump but no really discernible wing bar.
 |
| Stilt Sandpiper-juvenile |
This bird was our priority, as Peter had never seen one before, so it was both a lifer and a British tick for him, putting his British List at 338 and we were gratified that it had taken so little time and effort to find it. Would that it was always this easy!
 |
| Peter - happy to have added one more species to his lifelist |
 |
| Size comparison! Canada Goose, Mediterranean Gull and Stilt Sandpiper |
 |
| Stilt Sandpiper in flight |
This was my first encounter with a juvenile Stilt Sandpiper in Britain, having seen two adults in previous years, one of which, by sheer coincidence, was here at Lodmoor. To date there have been just 33 accepted records of this rare wader in Britain and 16 in Ireland so presumably, with the formal acceptance of this bird at Lodmoor, the total will rise to 34 in Britain.
Stilt Sandpipers breed from northern Alaska to the west side of Hudson Bay and migrate to spend the winter anywhere from central Mexico to southern South America and occasionally a few will remain in the southernmost states of the USA.
We watched it for half an hour or so and then headed for our other American wader target, the diminutive, as its name suggests, Least Sandpiper. This very rare Nearctic wader was originally identified as a juvenile Little Stint but this error was, happily, soon rectified. The Least Sandpiper proved slightly harder to find as it had flown off from its usual place by 'The Bandstand' and we had to make a long walk almost to the south eastern end of the reserve to locate it.
On the way we stopped to look over the expanse of shallow flashes, muddy strands and reed beds of the reserve. There was plenty of birdlife but it was mostly dominated by Canada Geese, those chavs of the birdworld, numerous Mallards and various gulls, none of which are the most inspiring of birds and certainly not what one would come to such a well known and illustrious reserve to see. However, in amongst them, were other species that were more acceptable such as good numbers of Black tailed Godwits, occasional Common Redshanks, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, a scattering of Little Egrets and joy of joys a much larger white egret that could only be one thing, and it was, a Great White Egret, which confirmed its identity by turning its head to reveal a golden yellow bill. Another good bird to see and although now breeding in Somerset it is still quite scarce elsewhere.
 |
| Great White Egret |
A Kingfisher flashed past, a horizontal lightening bolt, gone in a blur of electric blue, its loud piping whistle fading into the distance while Teal, the males yet to acquire their breeding finery, filtered muddy water through their bills.
 |
| Black tailed Godwit-juveniles |
We walked on in search of the Least Sandpiper and came to three birders looking out over another area of shallow flashes and mud. They quickly pointed out the Least Sandpiper to us, feeding on an expanse of wet mud in the company of a couple of Ringed Plovers. Least Sandpipers really are small and are in fact the smallest of all the stints and marginally the smallest wader in the world. So tiny was it and feeding, as it was in the expanse of mud, it was often hard to locate as it fed, creeping about on bent legs picking at invisible morsels in the mud.
 |
| The Least Sandpiper- so small it was virtually invisible on its muddy margin |
It was a juvenile with brown upperparts, the feathers looking bright with their rufous fringes and white lines either side of its mantle. Its breast was washed with buff, streaked darker. It remained always too distant for my camera to do it any justice but through the greater magnification of my scope I could see its bill was short and black. Its legs also looked black but this impression was created by the black mud adhering to them and when it turned I could see the normal greenish yellow colouration on the rear of its legs where the soft mud had not adhered.
Least Sandpipers are common in North America, breeding from western Alaska to Newfoundland.They spend their winter in the southern USA and also further south in the tropics of mainland South America and the West Indies. There are 37 records of this diminutive sandpiper in Britain and 13 in Ireland. This individual at Lodmoor will bring the total to 38 recorded in Britain.
We watched it off and on as it furtively crept around, but forever moving further away, seeming to feel secure in the company of the two Ringed Plovers. A much larger wader, vigorously probing its bill into the water was feeding closer to us. All over a plain dull brown with darker feather centres, its only colourful feature was a distinctive pink base to its long bill. It was a Bar tailed Godwit.
 |
| Bar tailed Godwit |
A Little Egret previously unseen as it fed in a deep channel, emerged to wander over a bank to another channel where the gusting wind caught the plumes of its white plumage, turning its sleek form into a wind tossed unkemptness. Unphased by this benign assault the egret carried on with its fishing while its plumes whirled in disarray about its body, forever at the whims of the gusting wind.
 |
| Little Egret |
Reluctantly accepting that we were unlikely to get any closer views of the Least Sandpiper we decided to walk back to get some more views of the Stilt Sandpiper. There were a few birders still watching and it had not moved away from its favoured flash of water in our absence.
It was now sharing its company with a Black tailed Godwit but after thirty minutes took fright, flew up and after flying in a circle over the flashes settled closer to us on a muddy bank where it joined company with a juvenile Knot. The latter looking dumpy and almost clumsy in comparison to the sandpiper. Nevertheless they followed each other around the mud, occasionally interacting with mild aggression before they were once more frightened by something not apparent to us and flew off fast and high towards the other end of the reserve.
 |
| Stilt Sandpiper and Knot-both juveniles |
So our day at Lodmoor reached its natural conclusion. A quick glance at the mud for one final check revealed that the Stilt Sandpiper had not returned but now there was a juvenile Mediterranean Gull standing there, its plumage a mixture of scaly brown juvenile feathering being replaced by the grey of its first winter plumage.
 |
| Mediterranean Gull-juvenile |
It was soon driven off by an aggressive Herring Gull and then every bird rose as a Marsh Harrier, gold of head and dark chocolate brown of body, wings and tail, rode the wind currents across the reeds on the further shore.
For an alternative account of this day out see here
No comments:
Post a Comment