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The Birds Of South Gloucestershire          Terek Sandpiper - xenus cinereus

 

Terek Sandpiper feeds in a distinctive and very active way chasing insects and other mobile prey and sometimes then running to the water's edge to wash its catch. Its long up curved bill makes it very distinctive. As the scientific name 'cinereus' implies, Terek Sandpiper has a grey back, face and breast in all plumages. It is apparently named after the river on which it is found the Terek River in the Caucasus.

 

There has been one Terek Sandpiper reported from S. Gloucestershire, in;

 

1986: (1)

On September 20th a presumed adult was found at Severn Beach. This occurrence constitutes the first report of this species in S. Gloucestershire and probably the 26th British record. (B Lancastle, N Lacy)

 

Found by: Keith Vinicombe and Chris Stone at RPD: Brian Lancastle and the late Norman Lacy at Severn Beach. Royal Portbury Dock and Severn Beach, September 1986.

 

On the beautifully warm, still evening of September 19th 1986, Chris Stone and I visited the Royal Port bury Dock in search of a peculiar Calidris wader he had seen there the previous evening. There was no sign of the mystery bird, but at about 19:00 we heard a very peculiar yet distinctive call originating some distance away across the mouth of the Avon. About ten minutes later we heard it again, but much closer, over the nearby pumping pool. It was repeated several times, getting nearer and nearer, so that eventually it was almost deafening, positively echoing round the rock edged pool. The loud, clear call consisted of two or three notes; its quality was hard to describe, but was something like a cross between the calls of Turnstone and Whimbrel with, perhaps, the rhythm of a Black-tailed Godwit. I wrote it down as 'a loud, clear whit whit or whit whit whit'. The call rang a bell in my memory, the vaguely Whimbrel like quality recalling what I remembered of the call of Terek Sandpiper...

 

Suddenly, there it was! It appeared low over the pumping pool, only about 20 - 25 yards away, and below eye level. I shouted, "There it is ­ it's a Terek!" CJS blanched.

 

The bird flew low over the water with rather shallow wing-beats. It was a smallish wader, maybe about the size of a Common Sandpiper. It was plain grey above, but what instantly gripped the attention was a striking white Redshank like panel along the secondaries. I had an excellent view too of the long, gently up curved bill which stood out clearly against the pale water. The bird dropped down in the corner of the pool, unfortunately vanishing from view.

 

To cut a long story short, it was a very nervous, flighty bird. In the next half hour or so we obtained several flight views but saw it only poorly on the ground when it joined the developing Redshank roost among the rocks at the side of the pool. We last saw it at about 19:45 but could still hear it calling after dark. It seemed set to stay the night.

 

We arranged with the dock police to take in three carloads of observers next morning for the dawn tide. Thirteen people gathered, but the bird was nowhere to be seen.

 

They gradually drifted off, Brian Lancastle inevitably making for Severn Beach. There, at about 11:00, he and Norman Lacy were alerted to a peculiar call, and found the Terek Sandpiper settled on a small shingle ridge with Ringed Plovers and Dunlins. They had good views for five minutes before it flew off calling, not to be seen again. They were able to note more detail, including the yellow legs, yellow at the base of the bill, grey breast patches and a white supercilium curving down before the eye.

Terek Sandpiper - Xenus cinereus breeds from Finland across north-east Europe and Siberia, and winters mainly from India to Australia, though a significant minority winters in Africa.

 

The first British records were in 1951 and by the end of 1985 the total had reached 24. However, 1986 was a good year, with some five reports including, coincidentally, one at Colne Point, Essex on September 20th. The Port bury bird was the first for the Avon recording area.

 

Keith Vinicombe - September 1986.

 

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