Common Sandpiper

Above: Common Sandpiper
Below: Green Sandpiper

A good number of common sandpipers spend the summer in the UK but they tend to be found in hill country, around fast flowing water, usually in Wales, Scotland and Northern England. They are far easier to find during the autumn migration. Late August and September being the best months but October can also be productive. They are mostly to be found on inland bodies of water with shallow muddy edges.

They are small birds and could easily be missed as their predominantly brown colour blends in quite well with the muddy background of the places that they like to visit. Fortunately spotting them is made a little easier by their almost constant activity as they patrol the lake and pool edges, looking for insects.

They are olive brown on their back, wings and head. On the back there are some darker brown or black streaks in the centre of each feather. The brown on the head fades to white at the chin and base of the beak. There is a pale eye ring and a hint of a pale eye stripe, which can be more pronounced in some individuals. The breast is white heavily streaked with the same olive brown. Below this the belly and vent are pure white. The edge between the white belly and streaked breast is usually quite distinct with little or no blurring. The white of the belly also extends as a small curved patch into the upper brown part of the body, just by the top of the folded wing and is a good identifying feature. The beak is dark, almost black at the tip and fades to a paler colour at the base. The legs are short for a wader and greenish in colour. In flight they have a large white under wing patch and narrow black and white wing bars.

They are often found in Autumn in the same habitat as green sandpipers and, whilst similar, the green sandpiper is much darker in colour with pale flecks on it's back and wings. It's streaked breast blends with the white belly and does not have a clearly defined end. The white patch above the folded wing is absent in the green sandpiper. A green sandpiper is shown below left for comparison.

Photographing these birds can present a challenge. As they are small you really need to get quite close, even with a long telephoto lens. Digiscoping is difficult because of their quick movement. High shutter speeds are generally needed to 'freeze' the fast movement and this means that you'll need good light. Because they often blend in with their background, the camera auto focus finds it hard to get sufficient contrast to focus correctly. So how can we overcome these problems?

Well getting close requires a hide as these little birds are quite nervous. The best location I've found so far is Sandgrounders Hide at Marshside RSPB, Southport. A few of these birds usually turn up most autumns and this place is the closest I've managed to get to them. Sandgrounders does have it's problems in that it faces east and on sunny mornings the low sun is directly behind your subjects. Not good. In fact, on sunny days it doesn't get better until late afternoon so if the sun is shining brightly, try late in the day for best results. If the sun isn't shining (that's most days in the North West) you might have better luck. (As a matter of fact, my best pictures from Marshside were taken on a very wet day).

Auto focus with the bird against a low contract background is a bit more difficult and this seems to be much worse in bright sunshine. Sometimes the birds will wade out into the water to grab an insect that they have spotted, I try to wait for these moments as the contrast between the bird and the water background is greater and allows the auto focus to function better, as well as making the bird stand out better.

There are other places to see these birds. Often one or two appear at Martin Mere, a few usually visit No.1 tank at Marbury, possibly the Weaver bend at Frodsham. Any lake, pool or river with muddy edges is a possible candidate. The Goyt Valley in Derbyshire near Errwood Reservoir is good in the summer months. However, I have to say that Marshside is by far the most reliable place and also where you're likely to get closest.