New Bird for Kent & A Lifer .......... Solitary Sandpiper

12 months ago 29

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Solitary Sandpiper photo by Steve Clinch.

News of a Solitary Sandpiper seen�at Stodmarsh on 15th October had got most Kent birders in a bit of a frenzy , a photograph had appeared online, however the area it was taken from was all a bit vague ?! which everyone involved in birding knows to well this can lead to doubt and all sorts of hidden plots can start to form.��

There were cry's of hoax by the dipping birding scene the very next day, however one thing was for sure everyone agreed it was a Solitary Sandpiper, however no one could recognize the place the actual� photograph was taken ,�

Solitary Sandpiper photo by Andrew Lipczynski.

There was no other sighting of this bird until the 26th October so once again i headed to the Reed bed hide at Stodmarsh on the 27th and was joined by the Who's who of Kent birding .

After 2 hours 30 minutes and a few false alarms with a Green Sandpiper building our hopes up the Solitary Sandpiper was picked out feeding in the foliage at the back of the pool, i watched intently for roughly 1 & half mins trying to get all the ID details that make this a Solitary Sandpiper !!!

It didn't stay long and flew off to the left down the channel and out of sight, i spent another 2 hours in the hide but it never reappeared.

The Solitary Sandpiper showed really well on the Saturday morning from the Reed bed hide (however i was at home !!), a brief 2 hour visit Saturday afternoon drew a blank so i decided to head to the Boathouse on Monday morning.

30th October 2023

Stodmarsh

Another 4 hour vigil at Stodmarsh this time looking at a small patch of mud near the Boathouse , heavy rain came & went but no Sandpiper !!

I went back to my car for a drink and rest my back deciding whether to either give it a couple more hours or go home and be content with my Friday views ??

Then the magical Mega alert went off , the Solitary Sandpiper was back in the pool near the Tower hide, so off i went and finally after approx 10 hours in total i had the views i really craved for of this superb Solitary Sandpiper !!!

Here are a selection of photos i took of this superb bird :

Solitary Sandpiper

And here are a couple of Digi-scoped photos of the tail showing the dark bar running through the rump and tail plus the barring.

Dark through the rump & tail.

Barring on the tail.

The Solitary Sandpiper is not only a 1st for Kent but a new bird for me to.

Many thanks to Steve .C. & Andrew .L. for the use of their photos plus a big congrats to the original finder of the Solitary Sandpiper.

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