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sandpiper (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter billy
- Start date
Jane Turner
Well-known member
Its a Common Sandpiper... In the 4th pic you can see a huge long tail sticking out beyond the primaries that also conveniently rules out Spotted Sandpiper
Jane Turner
Well-known member
It is quite a dark bird, but another good Common sand feature is that spur of white inthe front of the wing - a Green sand would have the dark breast band meet up with the wings
Jane Turner
Well-known member
I bet this was misidentified as a Green... it is a very dark bird!
Michael Frankis
conehead
Hi Billy,
As well as being Common on plumage, now is also not a time when there's many (if any) Green Sands about - they are passage migrants in Britain (with a small handfull wintering, mainly down south), and just now, they're all on the breeding grounds in Scandinavia etc. By contrast, Common Sandpipers breed here, so are (as their name suggests!) reasonably common at this time of year.
Your best chance of Green Sands is in a month or two, when they start to head back from Scandinavia. They start to reappear in early July, peak in late July, then trail off through August into early September, then just the few wintering birds after that. But even in late July, they're still fairly scarce in western Scotland, they'll be easier to find if you head across east to e.g. Lothian or Borders.
Michael
As well as being Common on plumage, now is also not a time when there's many (if any) Green Sands about - they are passage migrants in Britain (with a small handfull wintering, mainly down south), and just now, they're all on the breeding grounds in Scandinavia etc. By contrast, Common Sandpipers breed here, so are (as their name suggests!) reasonably common at this time of year.
Your best chance of Green Sands is in a month or two, when they start to head back from Scandinavia. They start to reappear in early July, peak in late July, then trail off through August into early September, then just the few wintering birds after that. But even in late July, they're still fairly scarce in western Scotland, they'll be easier to find if you head across east to e.g. Lothian or Borders.
Michael
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