Across the pond and onto a puddle
Ireland’s eighth Solitary Sandpiper was a prize find on the Mullet peninsula, where it made a temporary home in a muddy cattle field.
ASolitary Sandpiper: Clogher, Co Mayo, 1-8 October 2021 small series of muddy puddles in a Co Mayo cow field was the setting for the appearance of Ireland’s eighth Solitary Sandpiper at the start of October. Present from 1st, the bird – a juvenile – lingered until 8th at the unassuming site near Clogher on the Mullet peninsula. Although an
Irish mega, twitchable individuals have occurred during the past decade in Co Clare in 2016 (the last record) and Co Wexford in 2014. The only previous Co Mayo record also came on the Mullet, at Annagh Head and Termoncarragh Lake on 22 September 2009.
The bird was discovered following a fast-moving Atlantic depression that hit the west coast of Ireland overnight on 30 September into 1 October. The pools it favoured were beside a road and, unsurprisingly for a typically skittish shorebird, careful observation from inside a car – and a great deal of patience – were required by observers to get decent views. Ultimately, though, the bird would reliably fly into the
paddock a few times during the day and showed to within metres as it foraged in the mud, often alongside Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits. ■