Three Dunlins

Three Dunlins

Sunday, 21 May 2017

Sanderlings in Pitillas.


Last thuesday I went to Pitillas reservoir, a famous a valuable site in the middle zone of Navarra.

The climate conditions weren't the best ones but due to the lack of time that I have lately for birding I had no chance of changing the schedule.

Mild showers and increasing winds received me in the reservoir's parking, so I took a sweater and my Kowa 88 scope and headed to my observation points.

It had rained previously and I saw a few water poddles on the path but  it wasn't on my planes to visit de wadder traditional sites because they were  dried out for sure.

I started looking the shoreline when a group of wadders  feeding on the floatting weeds call my atention. They were quite a few , something not usual here.

I headed to that point to observe closer the birds and they were sanderlings and a nice band of twenty two!! a very good record here (there is only one more observation with more individuals, it was back in 2007 with 50 birds- R.Rodriguez ).


A nice group of sanderlings feeding in the weeds. The light conditions were very poor.

In the first view the solitary dunlin that was among them helped my as a yardstick to evaluate the size of the other waders around ( I doubted two secs with little stints with nuptiale feathers).





Redshanks (20 birds) flying around my position with their fluttering voices.


I saw a fast crossing group of birds in the distance. Rapidly  I took a record shot and realized that they were ringed plovers...........it seemed that it was a good day for migration (the last impulses I suposse because we are already in advanced month of May).



Sanderlings  ready to "land" on  floating vegetation.

That's all for today -;)

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