UKC

Saw this yesterday at one of my regular haunts - quite rare apparently.

Not my photo (I have permission) - every time I was setting up to get a shot, the bird was disturbed by others trying to get too close rather than having the patience to wait for the bird to come to them.

Purple Sandpiper?

Eric?

Spotted sandpiper.

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), the American sister species to our Common Sandpiper (A. hypoleuca).

One of the more common transantlantic vagrants, but still VERY nice!

Good photo as well!

CB

I’ve seen that photo

Cool bird, nice ‘spot’. 

If I'd have been first to spot this then I'd have known it was something different but I wouldn't have known what it was until I'd looked at the accidentals in a book.

However, having looked it up, the ID would have been definitive because it's in full summer plumage and those spots are so distinctive.

I was a bit pissed off at those on the other side of the water continually trying to get too close.

There a quite a few nice photos of it on the forum.

Elton Reservoir is basically just a poxy little reservoir, yet it has an amazing list of sightings. The reason is because there are one or two people who go there most days so anything that's there for more than an hour or two is seen.

I wonder how much is missed at locations that are rarely visited, there must be loads of rarities that are just never seen.

Eric the Spotted Sandpiper - yes that works 😁

Absolutely! Last week we had a White Tailed Lapwing at one of the smaller reservoirs around here. Unfortunately I read it too late on my birding website, would have taken me 35 min to get there but by then light would have been failing.

Took my spotting scope to work to try the next evening, but the ungrateful bird had gone.

It certainly is around somewhere, but not at one of the birding hotspots!

CB

Friend of mine works for Lancs Wildlife Trust at Wigan Flashes. He told me ages ago that their species list was higher than Pennington, but in the forums you get waaaay more posts for Pennington: hides, good car park, ‘safe’ feel plus a mega rarity brought it to everyone’s attention. So I reckon Wigan flashes is, relatively, underwatched and underreported (plus most wiganers don’t think themselves as being Greater Manc so don’t post).