11th September 2017

Today was one of those exceptional birding days that I won't forget for a long time. I had a Hobby fly over work, but otherwise the day was pretty uneventful - until I got home and looked at the reports. A stilt sand had been found at Lodmoor! Finally a chance to grip the species back after last year. It was 6pm so it would be tight, but I quickly decided I would have time to see it if the bird stayed put. I threw my equipment in the car and headed off.

I arrived on site at 6:55. I soon met two birders walking in the opposite direction who told me the bird had flown high to the west about 25 minutes prior. Well, that was that. I headed over to the shelter, and a scan produced 2 Dunlin and a Green Sandpiper. Whilst here, I noticed a couple birders hurrying north along the other side of the scrape. I wandered over to find a fairly large group of birders focusing on something. Bingo! I asked if they'd seen the stilt sand, and much to my surprise they told me they were watching a LEAST SANDPIPER! A Dorset first and my second in the UK, ample compensation for the dip! Apparently, this bird has likely been in the area for several days, misidentified as little stint.

LEAST SANDPIPER - Lodmoor

With the sun now almost below the horizon, I picked out what looked like a wood sandpiper at the far end. I wandered over and got it under the scope, facing away from me. Yep, wood sand. As I continued scanning, a couple Redshanks flew in and joined up with the wood sand, this time giving a side-on profile. It was at this point I realised how odd the structure of the bird was, far too big for a wood sand, with a longer bill, larger, dumpier body and very yellow legs. I continued watching and got some better views, enough to see the bill was slightly down-turned towards the tip, it was the STILT SANDPIPER! Nick Urch turned up at this point and also had views of the bird, and before long everyone was on it.

STILT SANDPIPER - Lodmoor

Straighter-billed, longer-legged and larger-bodied than I was expecting.

Glad I was finally able to catch up with this species after missing the Hampshire bird last year. An incredible after-work twitch, and not once I'll forget for a long time to come!