Green sandpipers are not rare birds, but their habit of feeding discreetly around the smallest of muddy margins makes them easy to miss.
Nine times in ten, it’s their flight call that gives them away. It’s a sweet, panicky choo-wit-wit, often repeated in quick succession.
Look around when you hear this sound - if you’re lucky you’ll catch sight of a small bird in rapid upward flight.
If the sandpiper is low enough you may notice the strong contrast between the dark wings and the bright white rump and upper tail. This can make them appear rather like a souped-up house martin.
Green sandpipers hardly ever nest in Britain, with the vast majority of birds summering at higher latitudes. But birds are present most of the year in small numbers, and their autumn passage through Britain peaks at the end of August.
It’s a good time to listen out for them, day or night. Like other waders they often migrate after dark, and call frequently as they go, including over inland spots.
And while the bigger congregations tend to be at well-known wetland sites, green sandpipers make use of farm ponds, tiny streams and modest riverbanks, including those with overhanging branches that other waders find unsuitable.
In this last respect they are rather like teal, and the two species often lurk together in the same secret spots.
It’s best not to underestimate how easily they can slip beneath the radar. Not long ago I lived in a landlocked village in East Sussex where, just a few hundred meters from our home, was an overgrown series of ponds that was just to these birds’ liking.
This modest stretch turned out to be a regular winter spot for green sandpipers (and teal, and kingfisher, and snipe). It became one of my favourite places to check, and it felt miraculous that it was home to all these waterbirds in the middle a largely waterbird-free landscape.
That sense of magic was deepened by the fact that I had managed to walk close by for several years without realising that any of those birds were there. Without the choo-wit-wit perhaps I would never have noticed at all.
Shrieking next week: Greenshank
When does birdsong stop? I’m looking for data on the average ‘last heard’ dates for birdsong. Can you help? See article
Now booking at Birdsong Academy: autumn half-day walkshops in Sussex and early bird spots on the British Birdsong Essentials course (starting Feb 2022).
Media credits:
Thanks to The Birds of Poole Harbour for the recording of the green sandpiper - if you’re ever in need on some live wader action, check out their excellent webcams.
Thanks to Imran Shah from Islamabad, Pakistan for the image, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.