Common and Spotted

1st May 2015 - Topsham

In all the years I've been birding Topsham Rec these are the best photos I've taken of Common Sandpiper, they're normally just too far away, too wary and too hard to sneak up on. These shots may not be that great but they do, at least, show the subtle seasonal variation in appearance of Common Sands, i.e. the dark barring on the scapulars and coverts and the faintly spotted breast of breeding plumage.

Common Sandpiper - 1/5/2015 Topsham

Common Sandpiper - 1/5/2015 Topsham

Common Sandpiper - 1/5/2015 Topsham

 Compare with these shots of the long-staying Spotted Sandpiper which I found at the Rec back in 2009. This bird was tame, eventually.

Spotted Sandpiper - 23/12/2009 Topsham

Spotted Sandpiper - 5/1/2010 Topsham

Spotted Sandpiper - 5/1/2010 Topsham

Spotted Sandpiper - 5/1/2010 Topsham

Spotted Sandpiper - 5/1/2010 Topsham

It was typically quite unapproachable at first - I first suspected it on 20th November but it took a few days to get good enough views and photos to confirm it. By a month later it was extremely confiding, or rather was so desperate for food in the severe weather it would feed along the footpath - even creeping under gates into gardens. I was using a 180mm macro lens at the time and even then the bird would come so close I could barely keep it all in frame. The 5th January was the last day I saw it, overnight the temperature dropped to -10 and the river partly froze. I heard reports that it was still present but I'm sceptical - I was at the Rec most days and while there were a few Common Sandpipers, there was no Spotted.