Sunday 2 October 2011

Nearctic waders at Davidstow today

I visited one of my favourite sites today and came across this wader below, which I have to admit, gave me some headaches.  My first reaction was Semi-palmated Sandpiper but moved to Little Stint and then back again once the bird was aged as a first year.  Back home I downloaded the images and became more confused!  Red-necked Stint was also considered but following conversations with Kester Wilson, John Chapple and Brian Field,  the consensus is indeed a first year Semi-p.  Close inspection does show palmations between the webs, the anchor shaped centres to some of the scapulars and the generally greyish-brown scaly upperparts.


The first winter Pectoral Sandpiper below was one of three present from the previous evening.



2 comments:

  1. Hi Steve, What a find and brilliant images, I'm still recovering from the Hawfinch shots.

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