Williamsons weekly notes July 28 2009

They all take trips too, around the world, and back again. They are tireless travellers along the tide-lines of the oceans. But this one likes lakes and reservoirs, rivers and streams, as well.

I love it because it is so obvious and easily seen.

As you chug up the river from Arundel to Amberley one of these tiny little wading birds may well fly ahead of you, just above the surface of the water.

It feeds along the muddy margins and the movement and noise of the boat puts it up.

Then you will see the rather strange way it flies. It flicks its wings, glides a little, flicks again, and cruises thus on and on, like a sort of mayfly, only an inch or so above the water.

Suddenly, when it has had enough of you, it puts on a spurt and circles around and flies back like a flickering star to the place from which you disturbed it.

We get them here mainly in late summer and early autumn, usually single birds.

Quite a good place to find them is around the northern edge of Petersfield pond, which is a boating lake. Frensham lake is also a favourite, so are the small lakes in the Arundel WWT collection.

Look for the 'thumb-print' collar of dark feathers between neck and chest, which is often a useful diagnostic check of this species.

There are many more sandpipers in the world, a dozen species recorded for Sussex, but they are fiendishly difficult to identify.

Sometimes half a dozen American species are blown way off course bringing twitchers out in droves for a 'tick'.

Much more common are those familiar 'little white mice' of the mudflats, the dunlin. They live in packs of thousands all winter on our mudflats and fly in flocks like miniature starlings, so easy to find and identify.

Then on the 'ocean' side at Bracklesham Bay you will see the 'clockwork mice', the sanderlings, which form trips of half a dozen in winter '“ again easy to identify. It's when you get things like pectoral sandpipers, Baird's sandpipers, or white-rumped sandpipers that things get tricky.

Little stints are fairly easy because they are so small.

I saw five together last year at East Head near West Wittering and they were so tired and hungry after flying from Russia they allowed me to within six feet.

That afternoon when a coach-load of twitchers arrived having been alerted via the internet or phone service (not by me I hasten to say) they had already departed for Africa!