Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Calidris acuminata (Horsfield, 1821) (4, 1)
Photo © By Alpsdake - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37866562
STATUS
Eastern Palearctic. Monotypic.
OVERVIEW
The first three individuals were all identified as Pectoral Sandpipers which included two adults. The adults were not correctly identified until 1892 when the fourth individual arrived in Norfolk; the 1868 record being re-identified in 1930.
Records as per BOU (1971).
RECORDS
1). 1848 Norfolk Great Yarmouth, adult, shot, late September, now at Castle Museum, Norwich (Acc. No. NWHCM: 1850.25).
(J. H. Gurney, Zoologist 1849: 2392, 2568; Stevenson, 1870; T. Southwell, Zoologist 1892: 405-406; H. Seebohm, Ibis 1893: 182-183; R. Bowdler Sharpe, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 1: 9; Riviere, 1930; Seago, 1977; D. J. Britton, British Birds 73: 333-334; Allard, 1990; Dye, Fiszer & Allard, 2009).
History J. H. Gurney (1849) in The Zoologist, 1st series, Vol. VII. p. 2392, dated 2nd February, 1849, says: 'I have recently purchased, of the man who shot it, a specimen of the Pectoral Sandpiper, which was killed on the Denes, near Yarmouth, in the last week of September, 1848. The plumage is in a state of transition from the nuptial to winter dress: the sex unfortunately was not ascertained by dissection, and therefore cannot be given.' However, J. H. Gurney (1849) in The Zoologist, 1st series, Vol. VII. p. 2568, dated 14th August 1842 [error for 1849], adds: 'Sometime since I communicated to The Zoologist (Zool. 2392) that I had purchased a specimen of the Pectoral Sandpiper (Tringa pectoralis), which was said to have been killed at Yarmouth, in September last: I now much regret to say that, I fear that I was imposed upon with respect to this specimen; and that it is, in reality, a foreign one.'
Stevenson (1870 (2): 368) adds: 'Subsequent enquiry has confirmed this impression, but the bird in question will be found in the British series (No. 246) at the Norwich Museum.'
Thomas Southwell (1892) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. XVI. pp. 405-406, says: 'Referring to my previous communication under the above heading (p. 356), I should be glad to add some remarks upon a very typical specimen of Tringa acuminata which has long been in the collection of British birds in the Norwich Museum. I have now verified all the Norfolk-killed examples of Tringa maculata, eight in number, with two exceptions, viz., Hoy's bird, killed in 1830, now in the possession of Mrs. Lescher (this has been seen by Mr. Gurney, and a photograph will be seen in Babington's Birds of Suffolk) and Mr. Chase's bird, killed in 1887, which that gentleman informs Mr. Gurney is not just accessible, and find them correctly named; but on referring to the specimen mentioned by Mr. Stevenson, Birds of Norfolk, II. p. 367, it proves to be, as I have just said, an undoubted example of the Siberian form.
The history of this bird is as follows. In the winter of 1848-9, the late Mr. Gurney purchased of a man named Wilmot, for the sum of £5, a Sandpiper which he stated he had killed at Yarmouth in the last week of September, 1848; this transaction Mr. Reeve, the Curator of the Norwich Museum, perfectly recollects, and he informs me that the bird was set up by Mr. Gurney's birdstuffer, Knights. The occurrence is recorded under the heading of "Pectoral Sandpiper" (Tringa pectoralis) in The Zoologist, 1849, p. 2392, the communication being dated "Feb. 2, 1849".
Subsequently the same man brought to Mr. Gurney two freshly killed specimens of the Red-winged Starling, which, upon enquiry, proved to be of very doubtful origin; and Mr. Gurney was fully convinced that an attempt was being made to deceive him; he, therefore, finding the man to be unworthy of trust, sent a second note to The Zoologist, dated August 14th of the same year, and, which will be found at page 2568 of that magazine, referring to his previous communication, and concluding with the following remarks: - "I fear that I was imposed upon with respect to this specimen, and that it is in reality a foreign one. On the 30th March, 1850, Mr. Gurney gave this bird (with others) to the Norwich Museum, instructing Mr. Reeve to place it in the British collection, but without any locality. Everybody who knew Mr. Gurney will be perfectly aware of the extreme caution he exercised in matters of this kind, and will not be surprised at his at once rejecting the bird in question; but I should like to be allowed to state some reasons which have led me to think that in this instance he acted precipitately.
(1). Tringa acuminata, although described and named by Horsfield in 1820, could not have been a very well-known species to British ornithologists in 1848, and even the Pectoral Sandpiper would have been a most unlikely species for this man to have obtained otherwise than by its accidentally falling to his gun; how much more unlikely, therefore, would it be for him to obtain in any other way an example of the Siberian form. The Red-winged Starling (Agelaeus phoeniceus), on the contrary, a species frequently imported alive into this country, is by no means an unlikely bird to have been selected for a dishonest purpose, and the circumstance of an example of this bird having actually been obtained in Norfolk in June, 1843, may have suggested the deception.
(2). The time of year, too, is in favour of the bird being genuine, for all the Norfolk-killed Pectoral Sandpipers which have since been obtained have occurred (with a single exception) in September or October; the bird in question, an adult in autumn plumage, is therefore appropriate to the season.
(3). It seems not improbable that the large sum obtained, honestly it may be, by this man for the sandpiper, may have tempted him to fraud on a subsequent occasion. After carefully weighing the evidence pro and con, I am of opinion that Mr. Gurney, annoyed at the attempted imposition with regard to the Red-winged Starling, too hastily rejected a genuine Norfolk-killed specimen of the Pectoral Sandpiper. With this opinion Mr. Reeve, who is in a better position to appreciate the circumstances of the case than any other person now living, entirely concurs. It seems highly probable, therefore, if not an absolute certainty, that Tringa acuminata has been obtained twice in the county of Norfolk, and that the Norwich Museum possesses the earliest example.'
Henry Seebohm (1893) in The Ibis, Vol. XXXV. pp. 182-183, says: '...I have also examined a second example which was presented to the Norfolk and Norwich Museum by the late Mr. J. H. Gurney as an American Pectoral Sandpiper with no locality, but date September, 1848. It was said to have been killed on the Denes near Yarmouth (Gurney, Zoologist, 1849, p. 2392), but shortly afterwards the fact that two examples, also in the flesh, of another American bird (the Red-winged Starling) were offered to Mr. Gurney through the same source, induced him to believe that he had been imposed upon as to the locality (Gurney, Zoologist, 1849, p. 2568).
Mr. Gurney's bird is also an adult Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper, and it is more probable that it was really shot near Yarmouth (as was alleged) than that it was brought from either its summer-quarters in Eastern Siberia, its winter-quarters in Australia or New Zealand, or from Japan or one of the islands of the Malay Archipelago which it passes on migration. The Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper has never been properly figured, and in 1848 it is probable that adult birds in summer plumage were unknown.'
R. Bowdler Sharpe, Editor (1893) in the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, Vol. I. p. 9, at the 2nd Meeting of the Club held on 16th November 1892 at the Mona Hotel, Covent Garden, says: 'Mr. Henry Seebohm exhibited two examples of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper (Tringa acuminata) which had been obtained on the Norfolk coast. These are the only authentic instances of the occurrence of the species in Great Britain. A series of specimens of T. acuminata and its American ally, T. maculata, were placed on the table, and the differences between the two species and their geographical distribution were pointed out.'
Riviere (1930) says: 'A man named Wilmot brought it in the flesh to Knights the Norwich birdstuffer in September, 1848. He stated he had shot it at Yarmouth. It was purchased by J. H. Gurney, sen., and recorded as a Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos (Zoologist, 1849: 2392). He was then offered two Red-winged Starlings by Wilmot and became suspicious that he had been imposed upon with the sandpiper, and recorded his doubts in The Zoologist 1849, p. 2568.
In 1892, Thomas Southwell re-examined it and found it to be the Siberian species Sharp-tailed Sandpiper as recorded in The Zoologist 1892, p. 406 and for this reason, together with the fact that Roberts, the Norwich taxidermist, who later restuffed it, stated that it had undoubtedly been set up from the flesh and consequently accepted it as genuine.'
Dave Britton (1980) in British Birds, Vol. LXXIII. pp. 333-334, adds that it was an adult (Accession no. 25.50).
2). 1865 Norfolk Caister-on-Sea, adult, killed, 16th September, now at Castle Museum, Norwich (Acc. No. NWHCM: 1887.45).
(H. Stevenson, Zoologist 1865: 9807-08; T. E. Gunn, Naturalist 1865: 297; Stevenson, 1870; Eds., Field 24th Sep., 1887: 486; B. B. Riviere, British Birds 22: 328-329; Riviere, 1930; Seago, 1977; D. J. Britton, British Birds 73: 333-334; Allard, 1990).
History H. Stevenson of Norwich (1865) in The Zoologist, 1st series, Vol. XXIII. pp. 9807-08, dated 30th September, 1865, says: 'September 16. The present season would appear to be somewhat prolific in rare Tringae, as a fine specimen of the Pectoral Sandpiper was killed on the above date, at Caistor [sic], near Yarmouth, and was sent, in the flesh, to a Norwich birdstuffer for preservation. Unfortunately a shot had rendered the sex indistinguishable by dissection, but the bird is somewhat smaller than some I have seen, and has still much trace of the summer plumage on the head and back.'
T. E. Gunn (1865) in The Naturalist, Vol. II. p. 297, under Pectoral Sandpiper, says: 'A fine specimen of this rare species was killed on the 16th of September, at Caistor [sic], near Yarmouth, it was forwarded to Mr. Knight, bird stuffer of this city, for preservation.'
Stevenson (1870 (2): 369) adds: 'The most striking feature, however, in the plumage of my own specimen consists in the markings on the breast crossing the tips of the feathers in an arrow-head form, reminding one somewhat of Bartram's Sandpiper. The rest of the plumage in my own, no doubt a fully adult bird, indicates a rapid state of change between summer and winter plumage, and, from the appearance of the breast, where the arrow-head markings are very irregularly distributed, one might also infer that these are peculiar to the nuptial dress. The rufous margins to the feathers on the head and back are in mine broader and richer in colour than in Mr. Gurney's; those on the head are more dark brown than chestnut.'
In an Editorial (1887) in The Field of 24th Sep., Vol. LXX. p. 486, they say: 'On the 12th inst. Messrs. Spelman sold by auction, at Norwich, the collection of Norfolk birds formed by Mr. H. Stephenson [Stevenson], the well-known ornithologist. Among the buyers were Mr. T. Southwell, representing the Norfolk and Norwich Museum, and Mr. Tuke, representing the Saffron Walden Museum. Among the principal lots sold during the day the following may be mentioned: Pectoral Sandpiper, caught at Caister, near Yarmouth, in 1865, £7.17s.6d. (Mr. Southwell).'
B. B. Riviere (1929) in British Birds, Vol. XXII. pp. 328-329, says: 'Having recently had occasion to examine the Pectoral Sandpipers in the Norwich Museum, I find that the specimen, formerly in Stevenson's collection, killed at Caistor [sic] on September 16th, 1865 (Birds of Norfolk, Vol. I. p. 368), which up till now has been regarded as of the American species (Calidris maculata) is an example of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata).
Mr. Witherby has also examined the specimen and confirms my identification. It is curious that the identity of this bird should have remained so long undiscovered, as its distinctly wedge-shaped tail and unstreaked, but spotted breast, are very distinctive. This makes the third specimen of this species obtained in the British Isles, all of which have been killed in Norfolk.
The first, also in the Norwich Museum, the authenticity of which was at one time in doubt, was brought in the flesh to Knights, the Norwich birdstuffer, in September, 1848, by a man named Wilmot, who stated that he had shot it at Yarmouth, and it was later purchased by Mr. J. H. Gurney (Sen.) and recorded by him as an American Pectoral Sandpiper (Zoologist, 1849, p. 2392). Upon subsequently being offered by the same man, Wilmot, two freshly-killed American Red-winged Starlings, Gurney became suspicious that he had been imposed upon with regard to the Sandpiper, and expressed his doubts as to its authenticity in a further note to The Zoologist (1849, p. 2568). In 1892, however, Southwell discovered that this bird was an example, not of the American, but of the Siberian species (Zoologist, 1892, p. 406), and for this reason, together with the fact that Roberts, the Norwich taxidermist, by whom it was later restuffed, stated that it had undoubtedly been originally set up from the flesh, and had been badly wounded in the neck and leg, he decided that its authenticity as a genuine Norfolk specimen should be accepted, an opinion which appears to have been justified by the subsequent appearances of the species in the county.
The third occurrence was on August 29th, 1892, when a female was shot on Breydon by Mr. T. Ground of Birmingham (Southwell, Zoologist, 1892, p. 356; Seebohm, Ibis, 1893, p. 181).'
Riviere (1930) says: 'Formerly in H. Stevenson's collection and regarded as a Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos until identified correctly by B. B. Riviere in 1929 (Riviere, British Birds 22: 328).'
Dave Britton (1980) in British Birds, Vol. LXXIII. pp. 333-334, states that it was an adult, (Accession no. 45.87).
3). 1868 Norfolk Terrington Marsh, female, killed, 9th January, now at King's Lynn Natural History Museum.
(J. H. Gurney, Zoologist 1868: 1128; J. H. Gurney, jun., & T. Southwell, Transactions of the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society 4: 404; B. B. Riviere, British Birds 22: 328; Riviere, 1930; Seago, 1977; D. J. Britton, British Birds 73: 333; Taylor, Seago, Allard & Dorling, 1999).
History J. H. Gurney (1868) in The Zoologist, 2nd series, Vol. III. p. 1128, says: 'Through the kindness of Dr. Lowe, of Lynn, I had the opportunity of examining a specimen of this rare American sandpiper (making the fourth known to have occurred in Norfolk), which was caught in a net on Terrington Marsh, on the 8th of January. This bird proved on dissection, a female, and in immature plumage, but from the reddish margins to one or two of the feathers indicated already a state of change.'
Stevenson (1870 (2): 368) adds: '...was netted by a man named Hornigold, in Terrington Marsh, on the 9th of January, 1868. This bird, which was preserved for the Lynn Museum by Mr. Wilson, of that town, proved to be a female, and, judging from the plumage, a young bird of the previous year. Through the kindness of Dr. Lowe, I had the pleasure of examining this bird soon after it was mounted, and of comparing it with my own and Mr. Gurney's specimen.'
Further, p. 370, he adds: 'The Lynn bird, like Mr. Gurney's, a female, has the markings on the breast following the shaft of each feather, and is evidently immature, but has a single new feather with rufous edges in the tail, marking the commencement of a spring change, so early even as the 9th of January. On the back and shoulders the centre of each feather is blackish brown, edged somewhat broadly with grey, some few having a reddish tinge, but none rufous. Greater-wing coverts slightly red at the edges, and more markedly so the feathers on the head and back of the neck.
The measurements of this bird, taken after it was mounted, agree with those of my own rather than Mr. Gurney's, and are identical with those of an immature foreign specimen, in the same state of plumage (No. 246a), in the Norwich Museum.'
J. H. Gurney, jun., & T. Southwell (1884-89) in the Transactions of the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society, Vol. IV. p. 404, say: 'Since that time [1830] three more have occurred, of which the last was caught in the Wash, in the nets which are there in use for catching Plover, Dunlin, Curlew, etc., on January 9th, 1868 (Zoologist, 1868, p. 1128); a very singular time of year for such a bird. G.'
Riviere (1930) says: 'It was originally regarded as a Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos (Stevenson 1870) until Mr. H. F. Witherby and B. B. Riviere re-examined it in 1929 (British Birds 22: 328) and found it to be of this species.'
4). 1892 Norfolk Breydon Water (North wall), adult female, shot, 29th August, now at Castle Museum, Norwich (Acc. no. 125.937).
("East Anglian Daily Times" 7th Sep., 1892; Eds., Hardwicke's Science Gossip 28: 237; T. Southwell, Zoologist 1892: 356-358; J. H. Gurney, jun., Zoologist 1892: 400; "Exe" Field 1st Oct., 1892: 537; T. Southwell, Transactions of the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society 5: 364-366; H. Seebohm, Ibis 1893: 181-185; Patterson, 1904; Patterson, 1905; Witherby, 1920-24; Riviere, 1930; Seago, 1977; D. Britton, British Birds 73: 333; Allard, 1990; Piotrowski, 2003).
History In quoting from the East Anglian Daily Times of September 7th, 1892, the Editor in Hardwicke's Science Gossip, Vol. XXVIII. p. 237, says: 'In the latter part of August a visitor to Great Yarmouth, from near Birmingham, was collecting birds on Breydon Water, and took his "bag" to Mr. W. Lowne, the well-known naturalist of Fuller's Hill. Mr. Lowne was struck by the appearance of a bird of the Sandpiper genus, and took it to up to Mr. Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S., of Norwich.
The bird has been identified as the Siberian Sandpiper, a variety of the Pectoral Sandpiper, and quite new to Britain, if not to Europe. As Norfolk and Suffolk both claim birds killed upon Breydon Water, this will be an interesting addition to the county fauna. Professor Newton has compared the bird with the specimens in the British Museum at South Kensington, which places the fact beyond doubt.'
Thomas Southwell (1892) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. XVI, pp. 356-358, says: 'Through the vigilance of Mr. Lowne, of Yarmouth, I am enabled to record the addition of yet another rare straggler to the already long list of Breydon rarities. On the morning of the 30th August, Mr. Lowne called upon me with a small wader, in the flesh, which he said puzzled him, asking me if I could name it for him. Not having any special general work on this class of birds at hand, I was equally as puzzled as Mr. Lowne. I therefore sent the bird on to Mr. Gurney, who in returning it stated his belief that it was an example of Horsfield's Tringa acuminata (T. australis of Gould), the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper of American authors, with which opinion, aided by the description in Mr. Seebohm's Geographical Distribution to the Charadriidae, the figures in Gould's Birds of Australia (Vol. IV. pl. 30), and after examining two specimens in the Norwich Museum, marked "Australia" and "New South Wales" respectively, I fully concurred, and this determination of the species was subsequently confirmed by Prof. Newton....I cannot find that it has previously been recognised in Europe.
The occurrence of this species in England is certainly of considerable interest, and Mr. Thomas Ground, of Moseley, near Birmingham, who was fortunate enough to shoot it, has favoured me with the following particulars of his meeting with it: - "I only saw the bird just as it alighted, and it did so in perfect silence; it then remained quite still, as if examining the ground; the other birds all took a short run. I fired on the instant, and it fell dead. A Ringed Plover also fell to my friend's shot at the same moment. The precise locality was on the Breydon mud-flats at the end nearest Yarmouth, on one of the flats which are left dry, or nearly so, at high tide. The date was the 29th August. The tide had been running out about an hour. Had I recognised the bird as a stranger, I should have taken care to have given it an opportunity of displaying itself".
It is curious that this bird should have been killed in the same locality as the first example of its New World ally, the Pectoral Sandpiper, which was met with on the 17th October, 1830. Mr. Ground's bird proved to be a female by dissection, probably fully adult; the legs when fresh were olive-green, the inside of the mouth flesh-coloured.
The following measurements were taken: - Bill along the culmen, 24 mm.; wing from carpal joint to end of first primary (longest), 129 mm.; tarsus, 28 mm.; middle toe and claw, 28 mm. As this species so closely resembles the Pectoral Sandpiper, it would be well for those possessing British-killed specimens of the latter to examine them with a view to ascertain that they are correctly referred to the American species, with which Mr. Seebohm says it appears to intergrade, and it may be that at some future time I may have to return to the subject.'
J. H. Gurney, jun., of Norwich (1892) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. XVI. p. 400, adds: 'The sternum, which was, I believe, sent to Professor Newton, measured 1.1 in.'
"Exe" (1892) in The Field of 1st Oct., Vol. LXXX. p. 537, says: 'At a meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society held in the Norwich Museum on Sept. 27, Mr. Southwell exhibited, on behalf of Mr. T. Ground, of Moseley, Birmingham, a Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper (Tringa acuminata), shot by that gentleman at Yarmouth on Aug. 29, which he believed to be the first European example of this bird hitherto recorded.'
Henry Seebohm (1893) in The Ibis, Vol. XXXV. pp. 181-183, says: 'An example of the Siberian Pectoral or Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, shot on the 29th of August, 1892, at Breydon, near Great Yarmouth, by Mr. T. Ground, has been sent to me for examination by the Editor of the Ibis. It is an adult bird, with most of the underparts marked with dark brown spots, which are small and nearly terminal on the throat and breast, large, subterminal, and squamate on the belly and flanks, and large and lanceolate on the under tail-coverts. The squamate markings on the belly, and especially on the flanks, are very characteristic of the adult, in summer dress, of the Siberian species, and serve to distinguish it at a glance from the adult of the American species, and from the young of both, in which the belly is unspotted white and the markings on the flanks are confined to a few obscure shaft-streaks....There followed an Appendix by the Editor, "To Mr. Seebohm's notes on this interesting addition to the British Avifauna I subjoin the principal references in ornithological literature to this bird, for which the best English name appears to be the "Sharp-tailed Sandpiper", adopted by Nelson.
The figure (Plate V.) is taken from Mr. Ground's specimen, which has kindly been lent to me for the purpose. Mr. Ground writes to me as follows respecting it: - "I shot the bird on the 29th August last on Breydon mudflats; it was in company with a Ringed Plover and three or four Dunlins. The boatman picked it up and threw it into the punt, saying it was a Dunlin. On reaching home I examined the bird, and having never seen a Dunlin with so fine and short a bill, I took it to the stuffers and was agreeably surprised to find a few days afterwards that it had been pronounced to be an example of Tringa acuminata".'
R. Bowdler Sharpe, Editor (1893) in the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, Vol. I. p. 9, at the 2nd Meeting of the Club held on 16th November 1892 at the Mona Hotel, Covent Garden, says: 'Mr. Henry Seebohm exhibited two examples of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper (Tringa acuminata) which had been obtained on the Norfolk coast. These are the only authentic instances of the occurrence of the species in Great Britain. A series of specimens of T. acuminata and its American ally, T. maculata, were placed on the table, and the differences between the two species and their geographical distribution were pointed out.'
Patterson (1904: 106-107) says: 'On the afternoon of 21st August 1892 I took a stroll along the North Breydon walls. When near the Triangle Pond, about half a mile up the estuary, I espied a very nimble, pert sort of a wader erratically hunting along the margin. At a glance I was satisfied it was a stranger, and my glasses made it out to be an unusual Sandpiper. I laid flat on the grass and could distinctly see its quest was the fresh-water shrimp, which swarmed in great numbers all round the shallow edge of the pond. While trying to make out the identity of the bird, I was twice disturbed by a pony stallion that had been turned out on the marsh, its persistent capering and prancing around me making it necessary for me, to save myself probably from a kick, to chase the brute away. This performance naturally put the bird to flight to flight; but, to my surprise, it flew out over Breydon, in a half-mile circle, and actually came back and settled in the same spot again. I had a capital view of it, and on reference to Saunders Manual, decided it to be a Pectoral Sandpiper. The bird, unfortunately, being shot shortly after, confirmed my finding, for it was identified as Tringa acuminata, the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper.'
Patterson (1905: 227) adds: 'I had the day before watched this bird on the edge of an enclosed brackish pit known as "the Triangle pond", about half a mile from Vauxhall Station. It was busily engaged in capturing the Gammaridae which swarm at the shallow margin; on being disturbed it flew around the mud flats, but silently returned as soon as quiet was assured. I managed to creep within a few yards of it, and had a remarkably good view of the stranger.'
Accepted locally for Suffolk (Ticehurst 1932: 350).
Dave Britton (1980) in British Birds Vol. LXXIII. pp. 333-334, adds that it was an adult (Accession no. 125.937).
Accepted erroneously by Piotrowski (2003) who claims it for Suffolk but who obviously hasn't read Patterson (1904).
Comment The other specimen exhibited was the 1848 record. The 1865 and 1868 were realised in the 20th century. Patterson (1904) gave up shooting in 1891 and enjoyed identification from then on with his field-glasses.
1950-57 RECORD
5). 1956 Clyde Clyde Estuary, Old Parks, Hamilton, Lanarkshire, first-winter, 13th to 21st October.
(M. F. M. Meiklejohn & C. E. Palmar, Scottish Birds 1: 7; M. F. M. Meiklejohn, W. K. Richmond & D. Stalker, Scottish Birds 1: 94-96; J. W. Campbell, Scottish Birds 1: 254; D. J. Britton, British Birds 73: 334; Forrester & Andrews et al., 2007).
History M. F. M. Meiklejohn & C. E. Palmar (1958) in Scottish Birds, Vol. I. p. 7, under 'Report on Birds of the Clyde Area 1956', say: 'On 13th October a bird of this species was discovered by W. K. Richmond on a patch of muddy ground overgrown with Persicaria at Hamilton. It remained until the 21st and was seen by a number of observers.'
M. F. M. Meiklejohn, W. K. Richmond & D. Stalker (1959) in Scottish Birds, Vol. I. pp. 94-96, say: 'On 18th October 1956, beside the banks of the Clyde in the Old Parks at Hamilton, on a patch of muddy ground overgrown with persicaria, W.K.R: discovered a "Pectoral Sandpiper".
The inverted commas indicate the provisional nature of the identification: from the first, the pale appearance of the bird, especially in flight, its apparently smaller size and its twittering call-note were points which did not correspond with this observer's previous experience of the Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos. On the following day, and on the 16th, it was seen by M.F.M.M.
The bird was snipe-like in habit and squatted until closely approached, when it would fly off in a wide circle until it landed usually on the other side of the river, where it was lost. At first, on account of the white lateral upper tail-coverts (giving it the appearance of a small Reeve Philomachus pugnax) and the black rump and centre of tail, it was thought that the bird was a Pectoral Sandpiper C. melanotos, possible differences being attributed perhaps to immaturity, a pardonable error when it is considered that only the back of the bird was seen, and that not particularly closely. The bird's call-note, invariably uttered on rising, was a rather shrill "trrt", sometimes repeated as "teet teet trrt-trrt", and of a swallow-like quality.
On 20th October good views were had by a number of observers (John Baird, Guy McCaskie, C. E. Palmar and W.K.R.), who then noted for the first time that the streakings on the breast were confined to its sides, except for a few in the centre which were visible only at close range in a very good light, and that the continuous line of demarcation, so characteristic of C. melanotos in all plumages, was absent. W.K.R. immediately suggested that the bird was the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper C. acuminata ("Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper" in The Handbook), a suggestion which received further confirmation when the bird flew directly overhead revealing the shape of its tail - the central feathers elongated, but the others decreasing gradually in size towards the outermost.
Later in the afternoon the bird was seen by D.S. who, by a lucky coincidence, had recorded an (American) Pectoral Sandpiper on Holy Island only a fortnight before. He commented: "Each time, when it was flushed, it gave a fairly high-pitched melodic twitter. This call, I feel, is quite dissimilar to that of the Pectoral Sandpiper I observed on 30th September and 1st October on Lindisfarne. The American call was very much lower pitched, and of entirely different rhythm. It consisted of two distinct notes at intervals and was of a reedy character as noted in The Handbook rather reminiscent of a telephone heard ringing before the receiver is lifted at the other end". The bird was again seen on 21st October by D. McRedie, M.F.M.M., C.E.P. and D.S., when, as the bird sat in a curiously upright position behind a grass tusssock, with its breast facing the observers, it gave the impression of being, as far ,as its underparts were concerned, a pale bird rather than a fairly dark bird, as C. melanotos would seem to be.
The following details were observed: crown buffish, with heavy dark streaking; nape dark; light eyebrow continued to form thin band over bill-eyestripe appeared rather lighter than in American bird (D.S.); lores dusky; upperparts as in melanotos, the pointed feathers, dark with bright chestnut-buff edgings giving a very brilliant effect; pale diagonal line runnings across wing from bend, bordered by darker lines; "strong and distinct V marking on darker back is probably common to both species, but very prominent in this bird" (D.S.); a curious pale oval patch of side of breast by bend of wing with darker smudges running across it; outer tail feathers with white tips; underparts white with a slight buffish tinge on breast, and thin dark streaks on the sides of breast continued down almost to flanks; a few dark streakings were visible in the centre of breast at ten or fifteen yards in good lighting conditions (J.B., G.McC.) but could not be seen at ten yards in less favourable conditions; the bill was rather thick at the base, long and tapering, with slight downward curve near tip-dark, but yellowish at base; legs yellow ochre. No suggestion of the line of demarcation across the breast, as in melanotos, but otherwise a very similar bird, both in appearance and habits. The colours of the soft parts as given in The Handbook are no doubt taken from museum specimens; descriptions in the Ibis (1904: 423 and 1955: 335) support ours
The bird's favourite resort was flooded on the 24th, when it was absent. We have no doubt that the bird was the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata, the first for Scotland and fifth for Britain, as well as the only one recorded outside Norfolk.'
Accepted by J. W. Campbell (1960) in Scottish Birds, Vol. I. p. 254, under 'Review of Ornithological Changes in Scotland', and nationally as the first for Scotland (Forrester & Andrews et al. 2007).
NOT PROVEN
0). Pre 1826 Kent No locality, shot, undated.
(N. B. Kinnear, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 46: 123-124).
[Not in BOU, 1971; T. N. Hodge & I. P. Hodgson, Kent Bird Report 1985: 36].
History N. B. Kinnear, Editor (1926) in the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, Vol. XLVI. pp. 123-124, at the 302nd Meeting of the Club held on 9th June 1926 at Pagani's Restaurant, London, says: 'Mr. A. F. Griffith also exhibited two birds from the Booth Museum at Brighton which had been recently identified by Dr. Hartert as follows: - Calidris acuminata. Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper. Shot on the coast of Kent. From the Borrer Collection. Mr. Borrer labelled this bird as a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, but, recognizing that it must have been wrongly named, I sent it to Dr. Hartert who has most kindly identified it. It is unfortunate that no better details of the capture of this bird are available, but, knowing the great care taken by Mr. Borrer in refusing to admit this to his British collection any specimen not properly authenticated, I feel sure that his cautious note, "said to have been shot on the coast of Kent", may be trusted, indicating that he had not succeeded in communicating with the actual shooter.'
Not admitted nationally (BOU 1971).
T. N. Hodge & I. P. Hodgson (1985) in the Kent Bird Report, Vol. XXXIV. p. 36, state the 1985 record as the first for Kent.
Comment Lacks adequate details. Not acceptable.
