Despite my concern yesterday about the pec sandpipers at Backsand being scared off it seems they were back on the scrape late yesterday afternoon so the decision about whether to go down there was easy and made easier by the dearth of birds around the estate.
On arrival the 2 pec sands were directly in front of the hide – still distant but in front and there they stayed for some time allowing one to have a good look and get some more shots.
What was immediately obvious was they were different colours (one duller/greyer than the other) and significantly different sizes with the duller bird being the larger. Both birds look to be juveniles due to the broad pale fringes to the feathers. I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
Having only seen 2 or 3 pec sands before I have no idea what the normal size and colour variation is, or whether males are bigger than female or what. If anyone can add some scholarship to this question please add a comment - I can't be the only one in the dark........can I?
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeletePresumably the larger dull one is an adult as it appears not only to be dull but lack the white tram lines that some small wading birds show. Lots of these fresh juvenile wader are brighter than the adults, often with more orange tones to the plumage. As for the size difference it could well be a male/female thing off the top of my head??? Phil.
ps: perhaps the small one is a baby one ... ah!!