Driving to Aberdeen to catch the ferry to Shetland I had time to stop off at Musselburgh Lagoons where a Marsh Sandpiper had been present for a couple of weeks. An uncommon visitor to Britain I had by chance seen one in my home county of Oxfordshire just weeks ago at the end of August, the second ever for the county.
Marsh Sandpipers breed in eastern Europe and the Russian steppe and are a scarce but annual visitor to Britain mainly in late summer (July/August).They spend the winter in sub Saharan Africa.
Musselburgh Lagoons are converted from former industrial ash pools and comprise part of the attractive Levenhall Links Bird Reserve on the East Lothian coast. Having never been here before I was keen to see what it was like and I have to say I was not disappointed and would have liked to linger to explore more widely.
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I watched the Marsh Sandpiper for an hour from one of three open roofed concrete hides, wading in the water of its favourite lagoon and giving exceptional views. They look remarkably pale especially in strong sunlight such as was evident today and to me are more elegant and refined in appearance than the similar but larger Greenshank, itself not lacking in similar elegant proportions.
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As a bonus the sandpiper was in the company of three Curlew Sandpipers and a Spotted Redshank.
A pleasant and enjoyable precursor to my birding holiday in Shetland
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