[HokkaidoStu]

I saw this wader on the beach this afternoon. I'm in Hokkaido, Japan by the way..........

Waders generally aren't my strong point. I must admit I had this down as a juvenile Wood Sandpiper (it looked quite long legged and dainty, and the supercilium looked fairly pronounced or so I thought) but now I'm not so sure. Could it be a Green Sandpiper?

I didn't get a good view of it in flight so didn't see the underwing pattern (which is how I usually ID these 2 species, neither of which I see regularly).

Any opinions by folk more knowledgeable than myself would be much appreciated....

The second picture is the same bird with, I believe, a Lesser Sand Plover.

[BobTag]

You're right, it's a Wood Sand. And yes, it's with a juv LSP (Mongolian Plover) in pic 2.

[Th_SQ]

Structurally it's a Wood Sandpiper imho.

A Lesser Sandplover with such long and pale legs ? Maybe.

[B&G]

Hello,
it is a wood sanpiper to me.
Moses-birding club of lake baringo,kenya

[Tanager]

Yep, Structurally it's a Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper has shorter legs and appears fatter. The prominent supercilium also helps id this as a juvenile Wood Sand .As a rule of thumb, to my eyes Green Sands always look more monochrome - dark above and pale below, whereas Wood Sand doesn't, the dark upperparts are broken up by these pale spots.

Nice photo by the way.

Cheers,

Mark

[HokkaidoStu]

Thanks a lot for everyone's replies.

Actually both species (the Wood Sand and the LS Plover in picture #2) were both local ticks..........hence my caution ID-wise.

[Th_SQ]

Originally Posted by stuprice68

Actually both species (the Wood Sand and the LS Plover in picture #2) were both local ticks.......

Just by curiosity, do you have other pictures of the Sand Plover ?

[HokkaidoStu]

Originally Posted by Th_SQ

Just by curiosity, do you have other pictures of the Sand Plover ?

Hi, there were 2 Sand Plovers, here are some heavily cropped shots.

[HokkaidoStu]

And here are some more..........

The shortish bill led me to Lesser Sand Plover although the legs aren't so dark and seem a tad long.......

[JANJ]

All nice examples of Lesser Sandplovers with the pale tipped upperparts juvenile.
Yellowish legs not so wrong for some - bill zise and shape good for LSP..

http://shorebirds.exblog.jp/pg/blog....A22%3A00%2E000

http://shorebirds.exblog.jp/pg/blog....A39%3A00%2E000

Geater:

http://shorebirds.exblog.jp/pg/blog....A11%3A00%2E000

http://shorebirds.exblog.jp/pg/blog....A02%3A00%2E000

JanJ

[HokkaidoStu]

Thanks Jan, I figured it was Lesser.

Greaters are pretty scarce in Japan..........

[Th_SQ]

Thanks stuprice68, nice pictures and nice Lesser Sandplovers !

[BobTag]

Originally Posted by Th_SQ

Just by curiosity, do you have other pictures of the Sand Plover ?

Told 'ya