Visitor who lives a life of extremes
The gravel pit was evaporating faster than a Serengeti watering hole in the dry season. Loafing grey lag geese bickered while cooling their webbed feet in what remained of the damp sludge where they had swum happily a few weeks earlier.
A dozen lapwings, alongside moorhens and a few black-headed gulls, lounged on the arid margins, reluctant to go foraging in the midday heat.
But one bird seemed full of energy. A small wader was pirouetting among the legs of the geese, dipping its pencil-thin bill into the murky water to find sustenance for the long migration that lay ahead.
Then again, blazing sun and 30-degree temperatures are no issue for the wood sandpiper. Its final destination would likely be a stagnant pool or mangrove swamp somewhere in Nigeria.
The choice of tropical wintering grounds seems incongruous considering the favoured breeding grounds of wood sandpipers – dank, subarctic forests that stretch from Scandinavia to the easternmost reaches of Siberia. Here, a dappled plumage sprinkled with spots is perfect camouflage for wading in grassy bogs and snowmelt ponds under the midnight sun.
Nesting sites are at a premium in the forests so the sandpipers use the abandoned nests of redwings and fieldfares to lay their eggs. The thought of a wading bird perching on its skinny legs high in a tree always strikes me as absurd.
Wood sandpipers on migration are notable sightings and the Rare Bird Alert information service keeps birdwatchers aware of arrivals across the country.
One long-staying sandpiper – perhaps a bird that failed to breed this summer – has been worthy of several local trips to enjoy the sight of its non-stop tip-toeing in the fast-vanishing pool.
Only when I got home did I discover that it may not have travelled from the northern forests of Russia.
The latest report from the Rare
Breeding Birds Panel reveals wood sandpipers have enjoyed a 528% increase in the number of birds nesting in Scotland over the past 25 years, with up to 44 pairs now breeding.
The thought of a wader perching up in a tree strikes me as absurd