Pectoral Sandpiper- Farlington Marshes 23/07/25

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I decided early this morning to take a trip down to Farlington to try and see the Curlew Sandpiper that had been seen there for a few days. So as I was eating lunch before catching the 13:00 train to Havant you can imagine my surprise and excitement as a Pectoral Sandpiper was reported by the visitor hut at the marshes. Presuming this was the bird that was in Dorset yesterday I didn't get my hopes up, as it had only stayed for an hour or so at Lodmoor. After a pretty quick bike ride to Farlington, I locked my bike up and made a beeline to the visitor hut where the Sandpiper had been reported.

Upon arrival, I received the great news that it was still on the lake, and a few birders helpfully pointed it out, and although rather distant, I managed a few initial shots of the Pectoral Sandpiper

It seemed rather happy on the lake, feeding most of the time, and even bathing in the water for a bit. A Green Sandpiper flew up, before hiding again in the reeds.

Athough being found mainly in America, this calidris sandpiper is not as rare as some other American sandpipers, with a very good number of these seen each year in the UK. After a while longer watching the Pectoral Sandpiper, we(I had bumped into two birding friends) made our way to the main lake to see if the bird I had originally been hoping to see was still showing. 

On route to the main pool, a few Pied Wagtails and two Little Ringed Plover were seen. 

After making it to the pool, nothing was obvious immediately, but after a bit of searching, the Curlew Sandpiper was found, along with a Knot and a few Dunlin. Although not technically a lifer, this is the first Curlew Sandpiper I have seen whilst being a birder, making it another great bird to see.

A few Greenshank were also present, along with plenty of Avocet, Redshank, Oystercatcher, and Lapwing. 

With not much else about, we headed back towards the hut, but before we could make it, it started pouring. Really heavily. A minute or two and a fast run later, we found ourselves all crammed into a very busy visitor hut, waiting the rain out. At one point, I took my camera off and dashed out to have a look through my binos to see if the Pec was still there, and after a few seconds it flew up from the ground before landing again. To my knowledge up to now this was the last time it has been seen. After a while the rain abated, and I was back out looking for it again, but there was no sign of it. 

Plenty of Lapwing were still out, along with a couple of drenched Mallards and Gadwall. 

After another hour or so, no one had found it again, but the two Little Ringed Plovers were out along with at least two Common Sandpipers, and a Marsh Harrier was hunting. Also, a Hobby briefly put in an appearance before dashing off west. 

Well, a rather eventful trip, with two year ticks including an American vagrant sandpiper. This couldn't have gone much better, and I'm still really excited to have seen both birds. A brilliant bird to get going again, after July having been a very slow month so far up till now.