Taking the Semi-P

A Semipalmated Sandpiper was found late on Sunday at Abbotsbury Swannery by Steve Groves and what was presumably the same bird relocated to Brownsea Island on Monday. This was possibly the first British rarity identified by webcam when Paul Morton picked it up on the well-positioned Birds of Poole Harbour camera in the Dorset Wildlife Trust reserve from his office in Poole. (Imagine the possibilities if I could rig one up at Swineham: I wouldn't even have to get up in the morning, I could just pan and zoom with a cup of tea in bed.)

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Back to the Semi-P, on which there was no news either way from Brownsea this morning, despite having Paul on webcam alert, so with the afternoon booked off I thought I had better go and look for myself in case it was skulking at the back of the lagoon and flew in to parade in front of the hide as it had done yesterday afternoon. As my foot touched the island's quay, and a cheery National Trust volunteer offered his greetings, the pager bleeped 'Dorset SEMIPALMATED SAND...'. Thoughts of 'Bingo!' were quickly dispelled when I read the rest of the message: '...Abbotstbury Swannery'.

Semipalmated Sandpiper with Dunlin behind - note size difference

I pressed on to the lagoon where I was able to satisfy myself that there was no chance of a second bird still on Brownsea, and resolved that an 'interesting small wader' which some visiting birders had been studying was a fairly regulation juvenile Dunlin. I considered baling and heading for Abbotsbury, concluding that to leave Brownsea on such a beautiful day would be criminal, and to then head to the other end of Dorset for a county-tick would just be ludicrous. Ludicrous, but not impossible...

Semi-P top left with Dunlin and Curlew Sandpipers

Arriving at one minute to four (last entry), I reasoned that it would be worth shelling out the entrance fee if the bird was in front of the Meadow Pool hide with the sun behind me, rather than viewing cheaply but distantly from the road into the sun. A good decision: it was walking directly in front of several grinning birders in the hide just as I walked in.


Curlew Sandpiper

 

Semi-P at Pennington Marshes

A few hours free this morning so I thought I would head to Milford-on-Sea to see the Sabine's Gulls which have been there for a few days. The pager reported a Semipalmated Sandpiper at Pennington Marshes en route so I thought I would check that out first. A breezy 30 minute walk later from Keyhaven and the Sandpiper was seen walking around the back of the Shoveler Pools. Eventually it came quite close - a good job too, as this is one tiny bird, smaller even than the juvenile Little Stint with which it occasionally crossed paths. Its feet were usually too covered in mud to see the partial webbing between the toes which give it its name, but occasionally when it was walking through water you could just about convince yourself they were there (see bottom picture).


Semipalmated Sandpiper (left) with Little Stint