While I was in Scotland, a Least sandpiper had been spotted at WWT Steart, causing quite a bit of interest. Kev @kev07713 had gone to see it over the weekend and returned with his wife on Thursday. By then, I had been back at work. On both occasions, he saw the bird at the water's edge, off to the left of the Quantock Hide. As we discussed plans for Friday night, Kev guessed I’d want to go down and tick off a lifer. He was happy to go again, provided we headed somewhere else afterward.
Saturday morning arrived, and we set out for WWT Steart under icy conditions and some fog, which made progress slow. However, we had left on time, so there was no need to rush. By the time we stopped for breakfast near Bridgwater, the temperature had risen into positive figures. Soon after, we reached the reserve car park.
As we got out of the car and started booting up, we noticed a couple further along doing the same, equipping themselves with scopes, binoculars, and cameras before heading out just ahead of us. Kev, familiar with the route, led the way along the track and we were overtaken by a buggy carrying two men, likely reserve staff, as we neared the hide.
From a distance, we saw the men walking around the back of the hide, heading toward the water’s edge, close to where Kev had previously seen the bird - Kev didn’t seem too pleased. We joined a group of birders already stationed in the hide and they mentioned that they "might" have seen the bird earlier, as two small waders had been spotted: one was a little stint, but the other had not been identified.
A short while later, a little stint appeared in a channel about 75 meters away. I had brought my new scope and was able to follow the bird as it foraged constantly, moving steadily to the left.
The Least sandpiper is a rare vagrant to Western Europe, with approximately one sighting annually in Britain and Ireland, mostly between July and October. It breeds primarily in the Arctic tundra and migrates to Central and South America for the winter. This tiny shorebird can be distinguished from other stints by its pale, typically greenish or yellowish legs, more extensive breast streaking, and browner colouration. It holds the title of the smallest shorebird in the world, comparable in size to a sparrow or robin and roughly three-quarters the size of a Dunlin.
A call suddenly went up from a lady, who we later learned was Steph Murphy, standing beside her husband Rob. They turned out to be the couple who had arrived just before us. Steph had spotted a small wader flying across from the left, near where the reserve staff had been earlier, and landing at about 12 o’clock relative to where we stood. Despite her sighting, none of us could relocate the bird.
After about 10 minutes, one of the birders at the front of the viewing screen announced that he’d found it. Following his directions, there it was, the Least Ssndpiper, a life tick for me, foraging at the water’s edge in much the same manner as the little stint earlier.
At roughly 75 meters away, and given the bird’s size, it was challenging to capture even a record shot, but that didn’t stop me from trying. The sandpiper frequently disappeared into gullies, only to reappear moments later. By this time, Kev had joined another birder, Rich Mooney, in the hide itself, and I decided to retreat and join them.
As I reached the hide, the bird, which had been out of sight for about five minutes, reappeared. It was joined by a couple of dunlins and later by two little stints. Seeing the size comparison between these small waders in the same field of view was fascinating.
As people began to pack up and discuss their next moves, I assumed a few would stay behind, hoping the bird might venture closer. However, since this was Kev's third visit, we decided to head back up the motorway to WWT Slimbridge.
The car park at Slimbridge was, as usual, quite full, but we passed through reception without encountering any queues. Before long, we were out of the Centre and heading toward Rushy Pen to see the Bewick's swans and a whooper swan that had been reported earlier. When we arrived, we found only a handful of Bewick's Swans and no sign of the Whooper. There was much more ice on the water here compared to what we had seen earlier in Somerset. Most of the ducks and geese were crowded onto the right-hand pool, which likely explained why the swans had largely deserted the area.
Despite this, the usual suspects were present, including one of my favorites, the elegant pintails.
We decided to head toward the Estuary Tower Hide, hoping to spot more of the Bewick's swans from there. On the way, we paused to check under the feeders, and as we’d hoped, a water rail was feeding out in the open, giving fantastic views. For such a typically secretive bird, they show remarkably well here.
I tried not to linger too long, mindful that Kev had already seen one earlier in the month, and we were keen to make our way around the rest of the reserve.
Arriving in the Estuary Hide we climbed up to the enlosed viewing area, rather than to the open area above - it was cold and there was frost/ice on the glass walls. Looking out from here we still couldn't see the Bewick's swans and there was little life looking back along the track. Out on the horizon were a couple of flocks of geese, mostly Canadas and greylags but also some barnacles with a Ross's.
We watched for a while, and had a few swigs from our coffee flasks before making tracks back to the Centre. I stopped to see the water rail again briefly but soon had a call from Kev that some cranes had dropped in at the back of Rushy. We set up and watched two groups of four birds, one with two juveniles. After a few minutes one of the groups took to the wing and departed left.
We didn't stop at the Centre and made our way to the hides over the other side, stopping when I spotted a flock of finches around the top of a tree. We wandered over to find that they had dropped into some closer alders and found there were goldfinches, siskins and lesser redpolls all feeding on the conical fruits. People must have seen us watching as we were joined by a couple of handfuls of others coming to see what we were on. We watched for a while and completely failed to get a clear shot of a siskin.
We turned to move on and almost instantly came across a Cetti's warbler working through some reeds against a fence. It was showing beautifully but never out of some cover and so I could only manage a record shot. A minute or so later it flew back through the fence and over to the far bank of a pool.
We were still hopeful of location more of the Bewick's swans but had seen that the white-fronted geese had been reported from the Van de Bovenkamp hide and showing well. Even before reaching the hide we spotted a few in a distant grass field and as I took some record shots (just in case), a water rail flew up to our left and dropped almost as soon as we got on it - apparently very active at the moment. We entered the hide and could see handfuls of white-fronted geese, and a single pink-footed goose. They fed on the grass and stayed their distance.
We moved on to the Kingfisher hide and looked out across the grass, eventually spotted more than a couple of dozen snipe and a handful of dunlin foraging. There were three more white-fronted geese beyond and quite a few tits and finches around the feeder but nothing more of particular note.
As time was getting on, we decided to leave and make a quick stop to see some owls on the way home. When we arrived, we found plenty of people already there. We circled around to find a good vantage point, pulling off the road to let traffic pass.
It was getting late, and within minutes, a barn owl flew up the field from some nearby barns and disappeared into the field beyond. Kev set up his scope and managed to spot a short-eared owl perched on a distant wall, though it was partly obscured. We waited, hoping for some action from the short-eared owls as the light faded, but none came. It wasn’t until the light had nearly disappeared altogether that we finally saw a couple of shorties hunting over the field behind us. Unfortunately, in such poor light and at that distance, getting a photo was impossible. Perhaps another day.
Another lovely day out and a lifer (for me).
Year list: 90.
No comments:
Post a Comment