The mythical Long-toed Stint
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YouTube Footage (Alan Shaw)
This year has proved exceptional for me to see new rare birds. As every year passes you expect to see less, however this year I've seen more than the previous three.
On Friday of our Shetland visit news emerged that a Least Sandpiper had been re-identified as a Long-toed Stint at St Aidan's RSPB in West Yorkshire. The bird is just the third record for Britain with the last record being in 1982. This was going to be a big twitch if it stuck until the weekend.
And so it stuck and there was over 2,000 people to have seen the bird during the Saturday, pictures on social media looked crazy. Thankfully the lakes and paths formed a natural barrier to control anyone over keen. As the rain fell in Shetland we said we would divert on our homeward jouney if it was still there on Sunday morning. There were many birders on Shetland who were desperatley trying to leave on the same ferry.
As ferry docked at 7am the birders on board were revving their engines hoping that the Stint was still in Yorkshire. By 8am it was confirmed and the car suddenly started going an extra 5-10mph. We were just off & flying .......we just had to hope that a pesky Sparrowhawk would leave this Asian wader alone.
There were loads of messages about traffic, progress and where to park but everything went smoothly. Our parking spot ensured just a ten minute walk to Astley lake where the bird was located.
With a decent spot we set the scope up to enjoy nice views of the adult bird. It was very much like a smaller Wood Sandpiper when on occasions the bird stood more upright. The long toes need the full magfication and you needed the bird to be on the nearside of the island.
Apologies if this appears out of sync but it was sat in drafts.
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