Green Sandpiper

and a lesson in bird identification


There has not been much happening on the birding front for a few weeks but I did take a quick walk around Pulborough Brooks last Friday, to have a look at the Green Sandpipers being reported there. I think it was seven reported but I could only find three and the views, from the Little Hanger hide, were a bit distant.

I didn't take much notice at the time. You tend to see what you are looking for and it was only when I  checked the pictures today that I realised that one of the birds looked different.  The white underwing was the key feature that made me take a second look. For a Green Sandpiper it should be a dark underwing.

My first thought was Wood Sandpiper. I could see fine baring on the tail, the upperparts where a lighter brown than the Green Sandpiper and there was no sharp cut off between the barring on the breast and the whiter underbelly. I wasn't totally convinced as I would have expected a much stronger supercillium on a Wood Sandpiper but I couldn't see what else it could be.

Even some of the experts I asked for advice where confused but it turns out that it's a juvenile Redshank. It seems obvious now but at the time Redshank wasn't even considered as an option, as it doesn't have red legs and it didn't look like a juvenile bird.

Juvenile Redshank

Juvenile Redshank  - white underwing and fine tail barring

For comparison here are shots of one of the Green Sandpipers showing a dark underwing and broad bars on the tail.

Green Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper -  showing dark underwing and broad bars on the tail

A good result in the end but it just shows the value of taking a few plumage shots and also the risks of only seeing what you are looking for.

I felt a bit stupid over getting it wrong but we all have to learn and I won't be making the same mistake again.

NB  13th July - It was interesting to see that someone had the same problem today. Portland Bird       Observatory had to issue a tweet saying  - "Contra reports on the national services there isn't a Wood Sand at Ferrybridge - it's a juvenile Redshank". Nice to know that I am not alone.