Late Sunday evening there was a report of a Wood Sandpiper on Pennington Marsh, the Shoveler Pools (a local name given to some muddy pools on the marsh) to be more exact. I decided Monday morning to give it a go, the Wood Sandpiper not usually being a one day bird.
As I sorted myself out in the car park the Wood Sand was reported on the same pools this morning. I headed straight to the viewing area on the raised bank of the marsh and the Wood Sandpiper was feeding at the back of the pool.
Shortly after, it flew off with a couple of green Sandpipers to the pool next to it. It was difficult to see it, as it was tucked away in the right hand corner. It was a case of waiting for it to return. The muddy pool was frequented by several Black-headed Gulls and this Lapwing, lacking a crest.
As expected the Wood Sandpiper returned, showing really well around the clumps of mud.
Along with the Wood Sandpiper there were at least three Green Sandpipers, not a bird that is always accessible to the camera. It is slightly larger than the Wood Sandpiper and lacks the pale brown spots and supercilium.
Wood Sandpiper is a smart wader with elegant proportions. A
strong eye stripe and speckled plumage combine to make this a very attractive
bird.
Although Britain hosts a small breeding population, confined
to the boggy habitats of the very north of Scotland, most are likely encountered
as a passage migrant, mainly in spring an autumn.
As well as the sandpipers there was also a Snipe feeding amongst the mud.
The Green Sandpiper is a similar wader that can be confused with the Wood Sandpiper. Green Sandpipers tend to be stockier than Wood Sandpiper,
and are less elegant and shorter-legged. The upperparts are darker on Green
Sandpiper, with fine speckles. From the front there is a clear-cut demarcation
between the breast band and white underparts.
On Wood Sandpiper the breast is 'washed out' and the upperparts have more obvious and defined markings. Turning attention to the head pattern, Green Sandpipers have a white-eye-ring and a supercilium that extends to just behind the eye. Wood Sandpiper on the other hand has a supercilium that extends behind the eye, giving them a 'capped' appearance.
This is a juvenile bird, the densely, neatly and strongly spotted a pale buff upper parts different from the adults darker and less frequent whiter spots. The supercilium appears more prominent in the juvenile.
The feeding behaviour similar to the Green Sandpiper and Redshank, picking insects off the surface of the water.
One of the Green Sandpipers once again.
A flock of Linnets flew down on to the mud, the male birds were looking very splendid in their rosy pink breasts and foreheads.
The Wood Sandpiper then crouched down, clearly in reaction to something flying over, but there was nothing I could see.
A Whitethroat appeared in the bramble in front of the pool.
It looked a very fresh bird so possibly one of this year's fledglings.
The Wood Sandpiper then came a little closer.
In flight, Green Sandpipers invariably call, a loud ringing
'tlweet-eet-eet'. As you look across the wetland area to get a fix on the
calling wader you will see something that looks like a large House Martin, with
a quick flicking flight, dark wings and a white rump. It is also in flight that
you can see the underwing is entirely blackish. With closer flight views it is
clear that the toes project very little beyond the tail.
In flight, Wood Sandpipers too will usually call, a dry
high-pitched 'chiff-iff-iff'. Unlike Green Sandpipers there is not the same
contrast, the underwings are pale and the toes project beyond the tail.
The total European breeding population of Wood Sandpipers is
estimated to be in the range 350,000-1,200,000 pairs, mostly in Russia, Finland
and Sweden. A handful of pairs of Wood Sandpipers breed in Britain, but it is
predominantly a passage migrant in spring and autumn. Green Sandpiper has only
bred in Britain on a couple of occasions. With a European breeding population
of between 330,000 and 800,000 pairs, the bulk of Green Sandpipers breed in
Russia and Finland. The Green Sandpiper
is a common passage migrant, particularly so during the autumn, and it also has
a UK wintering population of less than 1,000 birds.
My favourite of the portfolio
Leaving the pools I walked around to Fishtail where the water levels were very conducive to waders and there were a few, but at the back of the lagoon. A Common Sandpiper.
A pair of Dunlin.
And on Keyhaven, an elusive Greenshank and a very distant summer plumaged Grey Plover.
And a single Curlew flew in.
I walked back to the car park with a few Sand Martins over head. After some lunch I decided to walk around the sea wall, heading back first to the Shoveler Pools once more where the Wood Sandpiper was still on show.
And one of the green Sandpipers too.
Walking past the jetty there were a few Turnstone on the iron works, love the contrast here of the rusty orange of the Turnstone's plumage with the rust appearance of the old metal works it was using to roost on.
The sun was now out and it was hot. I didn't fancy walking all the way around to Normandy, so turned inland at Oxey Creek and then the footpath inland. At Oxey Farm there were two Red Admirals on the flower heads of the buddleia.
It is always good to catch up with the Wood Sandpiper. It is a regular in Hampshire, but doesn't always show as well as it has today, so a result!
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