Saturday 3 December 2011

Western Sandpiper

I have had to wait until the weekend to catch up with the latest First for Norfolk
On arrival early in the morning the hides were not as packed as I thought they would be, I even got a seat!
The bird was already on show, distantly at first but it then became the closest bird from Dawkes hide.
This little 'peep' was controversial at first. Having seen it now I can see it looks spot on for Western rather than Semip.
Structure - like a miniature Dunlin rather than like a small Stint. Which is what the Brownsea bird also reminded me of. When the bird was running around feeding it appeared to be flat backed with a square head rather than rounded stance and round headed like a Semip.
Bill - distinctive and although Semip can be long billed im sure this would be a very extreme bird ( like the Felixstowe Stint )
Rufous tones to crown and scaps still slightly visible despite the bird being in an advanced winter plumage

On the whole an instructive bird!

Past Cley coastguards were: Little Auk (a close bird), a few Kittiwakes, Goldeneye, Merganser, a few Scoter, Razorbill and Guillemot. The Little Auk is the first I have seen for a while.