Day 310 - Sandpipers Part 2 - Crackingly Super Common Sandpipers

Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos )

Hey everyone today's Day 310, only 55 days to go! The frequent, or even occasional, viewers of my blog will know that I have been to Norfolk during my summer holidays. It was quite a while ago now. I came to the realisation while thinking of what to do what today that I haven't done a bird (that is native to England) in a long time, well for 10 days, when I did Ospreys for Day 300. So, I was thinking about what I saw in Norfolk and I found some pictures of Sandpipers! They aren't very good, bot sure why as the weather was ok and they weren't that far away but I haven't actually got any better ones. Even though they are called the Common Sandpiper I haven't seen them very often. I saw these lovely birds on Hickling Broad when we had gone on the boat trip there. I saw these and the Green Sandpipers from the hide we stopped at halfway round the trip- you couldn't get there without a boat!

Anyway, here are the facts on these wrongly named creatures:

• Now, what I was saying about the Common Sandpipers being wrongly named /|\ wasn't exactly true...

• ...Common Sandpipers have about 15,000 breeding pairs in the UK, while Green Sandpipers have, 2.

• Their latin name though is spot on - the first bit is from a Greek word which means coast dweller and the second bit is from two Greek words which means below white. 

• They are an Amber Status non-the-less because they are a 'species of European concern' and their numbers are declining.

• I have not yet explained where they live. They are mostly found around Northern England and Scotland as well as Wales and most of Ireland.

• That is where they merely breed though. They Winter in the South of England and Ireland but nowhere else.

• There aren't actually many Wintering birds in those places though, only about 73! 

• Like the Green Sandpiper they eat invertebrates that they find on the surface of the mud or ground. 

• They like to live on rivers & lakes when they are breeding and when they are migrating they mainly stay on marshes or the coast.

• They are only about 20cm in length sporting a rather measly 40cm wingspan! Their ring size is a bit better B+. (Not the blood type :-)

• They weigh, on average, about 50g but they have been found to range between 40g to 80g! That's quite a difference. Females are bigger than Males 

• They first start breeding at 2 years and have a typical lifespan of 8 years and the longest lived for 14 years and 11 days.

Here are a few links to some more information:

RSPB - Common Sandpipers

BTO Birdfacts - Common Sandpipers

Birdlife - Common Sandpipers

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.

Day 273 - Wondeful Whimbrels

A Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) at RSPB Titchwell
Here you can see its size next to the Lapwing and gulls

Hey everyone today's Day 274 and as you know I have been on holiday the last week. I got photographs of about 35 species that I haven't covered and that is quite a lot since I struggle to find one or two sometimes now locally. I focused on the Ringed Plover yesterday, I also saw a Little Ringed Plover there. But that is not today's post but look forward to that in the future. Today's bird, though, is one that I had never heard of until now, the Whimbrel! A lovely name! I was glad that there were other birders there as I wasn't sure if it was a Whimbrel or a Curlew but other people there agreed it was a Whimbrel!

I had great weather for most of last week but while I was watching this bird it went a bit grey and it was quite far away from the hide I was in (the Parinder Hide if you know Titchwell) but managed to get a couple of ok shots.

From the Collin's Bird Guide that I have it doesn't look like the Whimbrel is actually found in the UK. We shall see if this is true in the facts, here they are:

• Well, they are not very common but they are sometimes found here. They only breed in the Far North - East of Scotland as well as well as the Shetlands and Orkneys.

• They do pass through all of the UK's Coast, apart from most of the East side, in April to May and also in Late-Summer to Winter. 

• They are a Red Status because there has been a recent breeding population decline. It seems to be quite recent as well as in 2007 they were an Amber Status.

• A bit more on population, there are about 30 wintering birds, 500 pairs of breeding birds and 3000 passage.

• They have a few interesting local names which are 'May Bird', 'Tang Whaup(?)' and the mnost interesting is 'Seven Whistler'.

• This name comes from the number of whistles in their call (see below) which also has an interesting story...

• ...People believed that the reason they whistle 7 times is because there are 6 birds looking for a seventh. This connects quite well with their melancholy. Click here for their call from 10x50.com

• They look incredibly like the Curlew. The only way I see to identify them is by looking at their bill. The Curlew's is curved all over whereas the Whimbrel's is straight with a curve at the end.

This is a BTO video with more ways to identify them.

• They have an 81cm wingspan and a length of 41cm and both Males and Females weigh around 430g.

• As I have done for a while now, I have said the ring size. In this case, because of their huge legs, it's E, one of the larger sizes.

• They first breed at a quite old 2 years but they do live on for, again, a quite old 11 years. The oldest, though, lived for 24 years 1 month and 25 days.

• They usually eat slugs, worms and insects on Passage but when they breed they usually eat crustaceans, their beak is a nice shape to fit into the burrow of a Fiddler Crab.

Here are some links to some more information:

RSPB - Whimbrel

BTO Birdfacts - Whimbrel

Birdlife - Whimbrel 

All About Birds - Whimbrel

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.