ML381429091

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

Note size difference c/f Little Stint

Observation details

We saw a medium sized wader that instantly caught our attention. The bird was actively feeding in the company of Little stints and Wood sandpipers. The features that were quite apparent on this bird were its unusual feather patterning, bright yellow-green legs and rather long bill that was decurved and had a distinct dull orange base. We immediately took photographs of the bird, which was quite a distance away. Our initial impression of the bird was of a Long-toed Stint, but it did not seem to match in terms of structure and size. The significant size of the bird was apparent when it was seen alongside some Little stints. Another possibility was Ruff, but our bird had distinctly different upperparts colouration and pattern, apart from the different bill colour. Our familiarity with these aforementioned species allowed us to conclude that this was a bird we had not seen before in the field. Once we looked at the photographs and videos, and consulted books such as Collins and Ripley guide, we realised that it could potentially be a vagrant species- 'Pectoral sandpiper'. None of the other waders present in the subcontinent matched this profile of an elongated body, decurved bill with dull orange base and bright yellow legs. The field guides also clarified another major field mark on our bird- streaking on the breast that ended sharply, demarcated against the bright white belly. This was an ID feature that was only found in Pectoral sandpiper. The closest matches, Long-toed stint and Ruff were also immediately eliminated by the distinctively long primary projection seen on the wing of our bird. Thus, we could safely conclude that this was indeed a Pectoral sandpiper, an extremely rare vagrant to this part of the subcontinent. We also consulted some experts on the topic- Praveen J and Ashwin Vishwanathan, who also corroborated the record. This is the first record in Tamilnadu.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D850

Lens

200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

ISO

720

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

1323 pixels x 827 pixels

Original file size

745.17 KB