Birds in Lincolnshire
THE ELUSIVE PURPLE SANDPIPERS OF FULLER STREET ROCKS
THE ELUSIVE PURPLE
SANDPIPERS OF FULLER STREET ROCKS - Mike Tarrant.
I know several birders who have tried unsuccessfully to see the Purple
Sandpipers at their favoured wintering site on the rocky foreshore adjacent
to the Fuller Street railway bridge in Cleethorpes. Timing is paramount
in being successful. I saw them today, Jan 11th, approximately 3/4 hours
before high tide. By then the birds have been driven on to the rocks closest
to the sea-wall from where they have been feeding elsewhere on the shore.
I am informed by the locals that Purple Sandpipers have frequented this
particular area for ten years now with a maximum of three birds in some
years. There are two birds there this year, and judging from their apparent
retained juvenile wing-covert feathers, they are both first-winters.
No-one is sure where they go to roost when they leave this stretch of
coastline, but I followed them today in my binoculars when they eventually
flew off. Although initially flying out into the River Humber, when some
300 yards out they veered off and headed for the beacon tower out in the
river which marks the entrance to Grimsby docks.
Also see Purple Sandpiper.
Purple Sandpipers at Fullers Street Rocks, Cleethorpes, January 11th 2001 © Mike Tarrant.
Purple Sandpiper at Fullers Street Rocks, Cleethorpes, January 11th 2001 © Mike Tarrant.
Purple Sandpiper at Fullers Street Rocks, Cleethorpes, January 11th 2001 © Mike Tarrant.
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