Twitch of the year
The St Aidan’s Long-toed Stint was probably the most popular bird of 2021, with thousands of people visiting West Yorkshire to see the mega rare Asian shorebird.
Long-toed Stint: St Aidan’s, West Yorkshire, 8-15 October 2021
THE appearance of an unusual Calidris at St Aidan’s RSPB, West Yorkshire, on the afternoon of 8 October had locals scratching their heads. The yellowish legs and brownish tones to the upperparts suggested that it might be a Temminck’s Stint.
St Aidan’s is blessed with a dedicated and well-connected group of local birders, and a message about the bird on the local grapevine ensured that most were able to get down that evening and watch the mystery wader before darkness fell.
Opinion was mixed in the fading light, but those on site tentatively felt that the ID
added up to Least Sandpiper, thus news was put out as such. However, doubts remained and the excellent photos taken by Steve Cribbin, shared later that evening with BirdGuides, quickly dispelled the American theory and confirmed it as an East Asian species not widely seen in Britain since September 1982: Long-toed Stint.
In many respects it is a surprise the wait was so long. There have been just 13 Western Palearctic records of Long-toed Stint, but seven of these have come since 2004 and there were long-staying or well-twitched birds in the likes of The Netherlands, north-west France and Germany during this period. Prior to this, Ireland’s one and only record was in June 1996.
It is well worth pointing to the hotly debated Calidris at Weir
Wood Reservoir, East Sussex, in September 2011, which was eventually identified as a Long-toed Stint on the final day of its weeklong stay. A lack of quality views (it tended to be very distant) made confirming it tricky. The record was ultimately rejected by the BBRC, although the overwhelming consensus is that it was a Longtoed and it will almost certainly now be reviewed (and accepted) in light of a similar-looking bird at a similar time of year in the shape of the St Aidan’s individual.
The St Aidan’s bird ended up staying for seven days and was the subject of one of the decade’s biggest twitches – the combination of news breaking on a Friday evening and it being at such an accessible location ensured that more than 2,000 birders visited on Saturday 9th. After uncertainty over the Weir Wood bird, Long-toed Stint has been well and truly unblocked. A full account by the finders can be read here: bit.ly/3n8MMSb. ■