Greater Yellowlegs at Dunwich: Adam Rowlands

Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca Dingle Marshes, Dunwich, November 7th to 19th 2020

Adam Rowlands

on the early morning of November 7th, i was in some doubt as to where to go birding. options were limited by the english covid-19 Lockdown restrictions and i knew i would be restricted to sites close to home. the wind had been in the Se and it felt like there was a chance of finding a Dusky Warbler Phylloscopus fuscatus or Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti on the coast. However, the lure of the two eastern yellow Wagtails Motacilla tschutschensis, at Dingle Marshes was appealing. i opted for Dingle in the vague hope that i would stumble across a Desert Wheatear on the shingle ridge (always the optimist!). i arrived at Dunwich pre-dawn and walked the 2.5 kilometres north to the coastal section of the rSPB reserve where the wagtails had been frequenting. After sunrise i connected with the first-winter wagtail and with a number of other observers arriving on site i started the walk back southwards along the shingle ridge. A kilometre to the south i saw a flock of Linnets Linaria cannabina get up ahead and followed them in the hope of finding a twite L. flavirostris. At 8:50hr, after a brief conversation with tim oakes, who was on his way northwards for the wagtails, i returned my attention to the Linnet flock and then noticed a solitary wader in one of the shore pools managed by Suffolk Wildlife trust. the bird was motionless and facing away. its structure suggested common Greenshank T. nebularia, but the plumage was browner, with more distinct pale spotting on the upperparts and the legs appeared bright orange-yellow. My immediate suspicion was that the bird was a Greater yellowlegs, but this seemed barely credible, given the late date.

As the bird started to move around it revealed a distinctly upturned bill and scattered dark spotting on the underparts, further suggesting Greater, but without a size comparison i was reluctant to make such a bold claim. After a few tense minutes, the bird flew a short distance, revealing dark wings and a square-cut white rump, and landed next to a common redshank T. totanus which was distinctly smaller. this confirmed the identification beyond all doubt and i immediately put the news out via the Suffolk BiNS WhatsApp group. i had seen Lee Woods, who coordinates the group, watching the wagtails to the north, so i also called him to check that the message had been received and after a short wait i was joined by around 15 local observers who had been in the area to look for the wagtails. fortunately, the shingle ridge allowed for plenty of social distancing! Whilst we were watching the yellowlegs, the two eastern yellow Wagtails appeared close by – providing one of those rare occasions when eastern and western vagrants meet in the uk. i left the site at 09:25hr, but the bird continued to show well during its protracted stay. the following description was compiled shortly after my observations on November 7th. identified by leg colour, size, bill structure and pattern, dark spotting on underparts and plumage pattern in flight. the bird was fortunately very settled, feeding by picking at the water’s surface and frequently catching small fish which were caught whilst wading around a shallow pool. it was not heard to call by me.

Size and structure: Despite lack of any direct comparison when located alone, clearly a large Tringa sandpiper. Appeared >10% larger when seen alongside common redshank in all proportions and more reminiscent of common Greenshank (although this species not present for direct comparison). constantly wading in shallow water during my period of observation, so leg length difficult to ascertain, but stood slightly taller than common redshank in direct comparison. reasonably long primary projection, c.50% of tertial length, but primary tips falling level with tail tip at rest.

Greater Yellowlegs at Dingle Marshes on November 8th Chris Mayne

Bare parts: Bill medium long relatively thick and slightly upturned. Black with olive-grey basal 1/3. eye dark blackish. Legs bright orange-yellow.

Head: crown streaked dark greyish-black on white background. White supercilium most prominent in front of eye, streaked finely dark grey behind eye. Dark loral spot at base of bill but broken in front of eye so not forming an eye-stripe. ear coverts finely streaked dark grey. Nape and hind neck similarly finely streaked dark grey.

Upperparts: Mantle, scapulars and wing coverts largely greyish-brown. Some scattered blackish feathers in mantle and upper scapulars. Majority of scapulars and tertials greyish-brown with white spotted/notched fringes. two or three innermost greater coverts similarly marked and seemingly newer than rest of coverts which were worn, dark greyish-brown and relatively uniform. White tail barred with greyish-brown visible at rest.

Underparts: fore-neck white, finely streaked dark grey and extending onto breast. rest of underparts white, with scattered blackish spots/arrowheads. fine dark grey barring on sides of vent.

In flight: Showed distinct, square-cut white rump contrasting with barred tail. Wings uniformly dark above.

the bird showed well on the same pools, despite being absent occasionally for periods, until the final sighting on November 19th. other supporting identification features were subsequently assessed from the many published photographs:- • Bill length: Assessment of photos showed bill length to be c 1.25-1.3x longer than head profile width. • feathering at the base of bill and nostril: images show that the feathering fell well short of the proximal edge of the nostril at the base of the bill.

• Leg length: the bird was wading in shallow water all the time i watched it, obscuring the tarsus and often much of the tibia, so i was unable to assess leg length. images show the bird to be long-legged. • Secondaries: the spotted fringes to the secondaries, as distinct from the plain secondaries of

Lesser yellowlegs T. flavipes, were captured in several images.

the bird could be aged as second-calendar-year+ by the different-aged feathers and variegated pattern in the upperparts, including black feathers scattered amongst the mantle and upper scapulars and blackish spotting/arrowheads on the underparts. Several observers speculated that the very worn wing coverts indicated that the bird was a second-calendar-year. i have seen many Greater yellowlegs previously on trips to North America and found one at elmley, kent in 1999. it breeds from southern Alaska across subarctic canada eastwards to Labrador and Newfoundland. it migrates through the uSA to winter in the southern coastal states of uSA, central America, the caribbean and South America (Brit. Birds 113:604). the Dingle record represents the 35th record for Britain and the fourth for Suffolk (including records from the Watsonian Vice county) following individuals at Breydon South Shore in September 1975, Minsmere and Walberswick in July and August 1985 and Southwold and Burgh castle in May 1995.