An Abundance of Sanderlings 21st May 2020

This May has been exceptional for small waders arriving at Farmoor where they briefly rest and feed  on their long northward migration. Dunlins, Ringed Plovers, Turnstones, Sanderlings and memorably no less than two Curlew Sandpipers have, so far this year, graced the concrete shores of this most inland of reservoirs.

I always assumed that bad weather would be the prerequisite for waders dropping in to Farmoor but I have been proved wrong as waders continue to arrive daily in the most pleasant of conditions. How many more must pass unseen, high overhead, taking a shortcut across Britain to their northern destinations without putting down, can only be wondered about but it must be considerable. In an earlier post from two days ago I referred to my hope that the Sanderling passage would continue and I would get to see more of them and today I was not disappointed.

At ten this morning, which is when the reservoir now opens under its new covid restrictions, I scanned along the southern edge of the causeway and was delighted to see a group of six small waders running along by the water's edge. Too far away to identify initially, I set off down the causeway to get closer  to them and in great anticipation of what I would discover. Dunlin probably, as they are the most frequent wader to visit here, but you never know it could be different this time.

I slowed my pace as I got nearer to the waders so as not to alarm them, then stopped and looked through my bins.To my great delight I found myself viewing no less than five Sanderling and one Dunlin. The five Sanderling were, typically, all in differing plumages, three quite pale still but the other two stood out as being darker due to their more rufous tones and one of these was the most colourful of all, possessing a rich rufous blush to its face and breast and with upperparts liberally suffused with a similar rufous colouration, the feathers with black chevrons in their centre creating a pleasing marbled effect. A Sanderling in its full summer breeding plumage is the holy grail as far as I am concerned. This was my reward for all those long unrequited trudges up and down the causeway, hoping, forever hoping it would happen and now it finally had. Here at last, a properly summer plumaged Sanderling on lowly Farmoor.

All six waders with the Dunlin on the left and five Sanderling showing the wide range of plumage they exhibited

The Sanderling was an absolute picture, a glorious combination of rufous and white highlighted in the morning sunshine and more to the point only the second one in this advanced colourful plumage that I have seen at Farmoor, which made it even more pleasurable.

Now, if you will indulge me, there follows quite a lot of images of Sanderlings, well one in particular but hopefully its beauty will bring as much enjoyment as it did to me and convey my sheer delight at seeing both it and its companions so close to me on the causeway.

Thankfully they were not skittish, as some are that visit here, and they would allow me to walk right up to them provided I made no sudden movements. It was one of those moments when forlorn hope becomes reality  and I sat on the low retaining wall and watched and photographed them to my heart's content but, not unnaturally, my attention always drifted to the richly coloured individual as it fed on the weedy concrete.

It is always a conundrum coming to a definitive diagnosis of a Sanderling's plumage in Spring. Regarding the paler ones, which always predominate, are they just later in their moult or, as the books tell me, is it that some individuals will remain paler throughout the breeding season? Maybe even a combination of both?

One of the paler Sanderling with hardly any rufous on its  head and upperparts apart from on some of the scapulars.
Note the unmoulted wing coverts and faded tertials.Will these be moulted or retained?

Two of the paler Sanderlings

A paler Sanderling at the front.The more colourful individual at the back

The two most colourful Sanderling together

But then it could be that they will all moult into rich rufous colours, like the one individual with them  today that was so markedly more bright. Only one other Sanderling was approaching a similar colour but was not  so rich in tone or extent and consequently appeared duller in comparison.

The two most colourful Sanderling together with the brightest individual at the front

The sun continued to shine down as the Sanderlings communicated with each other by means of a quiet conversational twittering. The rufous Sanderling was a truly beautiful looking creature and I thanked my stars that I had this opportunity to see it. 

Sad to say the Dunlin  and the other Sanderlings hardly got a look in, as thoroughly distracted I feasted my eyes on the bright Sanderling but I can make no apology, as I knew not when this would happen again, if ever. Here today was a perfect combination of good weather, no disturbance and a group of totally confiding waders with one sensationally coloured individual amongst them. The last time I saw a Sanderling in plumage as advanced as this at Farmoor was many years ago, when it too was in a flock of paler individuals but was very wary and it was in wet and miserable conditions.

An enormous military aircraft from nearby RAF Brize Norton was practicing manoeuvres over the reservoir. It was a machine packed with wonderful and hugely expensive technology, tonnes of it held in the air by enormous screaming jet engines, a miracle of engineering. I regarded its ominous and threatening presence and turned to the Sanderlings, creatures of a natural evolution that has brought them to their present delicate beauty and innocence, each weighing just grammes, their lives under constant threat but fearlessly embarking on a journey to the far ends of the earth, with no compass or navigation aids, possessing nothing but instinct, wings and feathers to get them there. The incongruity was not lost on me.

Today will live long in my memory. After an hour I left the Sanderlings to their meandering along the water's edge, having put the news out so others, quite rightly could come to see and photograph them.

For me it was all about this moment and a very special exclusive hour in their company. Where, I pondered will they stop next  to refuel and rest? North Uist in the Outer Hebrides maybe, before heading northwest out over the Atlantic, perhaps via Iceland before crossing to Greenland to breed or maybe across the North Sea to Scandinavia before heading east to the trackless wastes of Siberia?

It's still not the end of May. 

Dare I say it would be nice if a few more Sanderling came along to Farmoor. 

Please ...............