The White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) – initially recorded as Baird’s Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) – from Lake Gülper was intended to be observed on Saturday, July 22nd. Already at 7:00 am I arrived after 2 hours’ drive at the southeast corner of the small village Prietzen at the south end of Lake Gülper. Some birders had already placed their cars along the road. But on Saturday morning nobody had seen the bird in the Havelaue already.
Since Wednesday, July 19, the White-rumped Sandpiper had been seen loosely associated with river Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius), Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) and a Little Stint (Calidris minuta) on the sands on the banks of the southern shore. The White-rumped Sandpiper was busily searching for food with little resting phases. The bird was steadily to be seen until evening.
The southern shore of Lake Gülper is, however, crowded in summer by thousands of resting geese, predominantly Greylag Goose (Anser anser). For longer periods of time, White-rumped Sandpiper could not be found between the Greylag Geese. Thus, e.g. on Friday, July 21, 2017 between 7:45 and 8:00 pm, the bird could only be discovered after a White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) had flushed all the Greylag Geese. Before that, he had not been seen for four hours because he was hidden by the geese and behind the grass cover in front of the sand bars. Subsequently, he had flown away with the Little Stint.
The hope was to see the bird again on Saturday morning at its old place together with the accompanying birds. This hope had to be abandoned after six hours of intense searching. The yield of waders was not so bad with at least 7 Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia), 1 Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos), 3 Spotted Redshank (Tringa erythropus), 1 Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) and 1 Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea). But there was nothing to be seen from the White-rumped Sandpiper. So I have to take the photo of the blog back on pictures from his home country. Beautiful photographs were taken at the beginning of September 2014 from Cape Point near Cape Hatteras / North Carolina.
Of the two North American Calidris – species Baird’s Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper – the White-rumped Sandpiper is the more common species in Central Europe. Two White-rumped Sandpipers were also listed for the year 2014 in the journal “Rare Birds in Germany 2014”. According to the journal, a White-rumped Sandpiper was reported on August, 22nd 2014 in the Meldorfer Speicherkoog and one on August, 31st 2014 in an area called Fahretofter Westerkoog in the district of Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein.
In order to meet the growing demand for top photographs of the rare species of the Palearctic, Bird-lens.com has specifically undertaken trips to distant places like the coastal mountains of Western Norway or in winter to a remote harbor in Denmark. All this to make excellent photos of the birds of the West Palearctic. The yield of pictures of rare West Palearctic birds is very good. The beautiful picture of the blog is just a first impression of what you will find behind “Picture Shop” very soon. Just let bird-lens.com know if you need the image of a bird, before new pictures are online.