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 304 - Sandpipers Part 1 - Gregariously Smashing Green Sandpipers.

Hey everyone today's Day 304 and as I went back to Norfolk yesterday with Swallowtail Butterflies, I thought I'd stay there. Specifically, one the Broads. Now, I went on another boat ride on Hickling Broad run by Norfolk Wildlife Trusts (- not Ross's he's on Horsey Mere). It was quite fun and we managed to get to a private hide that you can only access by the boat. While we were there, we saw at least 3 different type of Sandpiper. The one I will be covering today is the Green Sandpiper...

...But before I do, I want to share a little wildlife story that happened to me today. I witnessed a giant spider terrorising Yorkshire striding through towns and roads! It was moving at a rate of 8 miles a second! It started off by jumping off a web of clouds and straight onto Thirsk. It then walked along the A19 to Ripon before tearing across some countryside to Harrogate and then onto Knaresborough before zooming along the B6106 and startling the people of Northallerton before finally coming to an end at Hartlepool where it fell into the sea.....it was actually a spider that fell onto the map while I was navigating us through some country lanes on the way back from Lake Gormire. But just goes to show you can spot and watch nature just about anywhere!

Anyway...here are the facts on today's post:

If there aren't many in the UK we did well to see at least three

• We were quite lucky to see them in the middle of Summer, as there are only 1-2 breeding pairs in the whole of the UK! Only small numbers are found across the UK at this time of year.

• On top of this though, there are the 910 wintering birds that live here. That's still hardly any at all though!

• The Worlds breeding population is guessed to be about 2.4 million breeding pairs but it has been estimated 1.2 million either side of that number.

• Because of the small breeding number in the UK they are a Amber Status but Birdlife doesn't list them as a species of concern.

Looking for bugs

• They are about 21cm - 24cm and their wingspan is about 29cm. Both Males and Females weigh about 75g.

• In the UK they are found in Winter in the South but they are found a tiny bit on the North and South-West coasts.

• They are usually found on ponds and marshes in the summer. When migrating they like wet grass and mudflats but they also seem to like sewage works in the Winter, probably because they can find their favourite foods there...

• ...Insects (:-) They like to get these of the surface of their feeding grounds and don't probe the ground like some birds

Moving closer

• It seems they like to breed in forests and lay brown or purple spotted eggs in old Crows nests of Squirrel dreys.

• They have one clutch of up to 4 eggs each year.

• They start breeding at two years old and have been known to live over 11 years

Here are some links to some more information:

RSPB - Green Sandpipers

Wildlife Trusts - Green Sandpipers

Birdlife - Green Sandpipers

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.