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| Birdwatch: On the trail of the elusive buff-breasted sandpiper | |
| (4 months later) | |
| It never occurred to me, peering through rain-soaked binoculars, that I would have to wait 43 years to see another one | |
| Stephen Moss | |
| Sun 15 Oct 2017 21.30 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 15.24 GMT | |
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| It was late September 1974. Manchester United led the old Second Division, Kung Fu Fighting was top of the pop charts, and the BBC had just launched its Ceefax service. Meanwhile, I was birdwatching on the Isles of Scilly, thanks to my mother’s far-sighted decision to take me out of school for a fortnight, slap-bang in the middle of the migration season. | It was late September 1974. Manchester United led the old Second Division, Kung Fu Fighting was top of the pop charts, and the BBC had just launched its Ceefax service. Meanwhile, I was birdwatching on the Isles of Scilly, thanks to my mother’s far-sighted decision to take me out of school for a fortnight, slap-bang in the middle of the migration season. |
| We saw some good birds, including Iceland gull, scarlet rosefinch and a sharp-tailed sandpiper from Siberia. But nearly 50 years later, those I remember best were three buff-breasted sandpipers, plump little waders that had flown all the way across the Atlantic, driven off course by the tail end of a hurricane. | We saw some good birds, including Iceland gull, scarlet rosefinch and a sharp-tailed sandpiper from Siberia. But nearly 50 years later, those I remember best were three buff-breasted sandpipers, plump little waders that had flown all the way across the Atlantic, driven off course by the tail end of a hurricane. |
| A gale was still blowing as we struggled up the hill to the golf course on St Mary’s. Then the rain began – almost horizontal, as we backed on to one of the greens. There, hunched down on the crew-cut turf, were three buff-breasted sandpipers. We watched them for a minute or two through rain-soaked binoculars, and then beat a hasty retreat to a warm, dry café back in town. | A gale was still blowing as we struggled up the hill to the golf course on St Mary’s. Then the rain began – almost horizontal, as we backed on to one of the greens. There, hunched down on the crew-cut turf, were three buff-breasted sandpipers. We watched them for a minute or two through rain-soaked binoculars, and then beat a hasty retreat to a warm, dry café back in town. |
| It never occurred to me that I would have to wait another 43 years before I saw buff-breasted sandpipers again. It happened at this year’s Delta Birding Festival, on the Ebro Delta, south of Barcelona. | It never occurred to me that I would have to wait another 43 years before I saw buff-breasted sandpipers again. It happened at this year’s Delta Birding Festival, on the Ebro Delta, south of Barcelona. |
| Before the event began, the organisers took us on a memorable morning’s birding. Vast flocks of flamingos, glowing in the early morning light; the once-rare Audouin’s gull, making a welcome comeback from the brink of extinction; and a score of different waders, many on their journey south to Africa. | Before the event began, the organisers took us on a memorable morning’s birding. Vast flocks of flamingos, glowing in the early morning light; the once-rare Audouin’s gull, making a welcome comeback from the brink of extinction; and a score of different waders, many on their journey south to Africa. |
| Towards the end of our excursion, we stopped to watch three dotterels – scarce waders I usually see on the high tops of the Cairngorms. Then a passing birder told us the news: two buff-breasted sandpipers had flown off just a few minutes earlier. | Towards the end of our excursion, we stopped to watch three dotterels – scarce waders I usually see on the high tops of the Cairngorms. Then a passing birder told us the news: two buff-breasted sandpipers had flown off just a few minutes earlier. |
| For me, this was intriguing – for my companion, the Birdfair supremo, Tim Appleton, devastating. Tim has been birding all over the world, for more than half a century, yet he has never seen a buff-breasted sandpiper. He’s missed them many times – including a pair on his home patch, Rutland Water, a few years ago. So he was understandably upset to have missed his chance once again. | For me, this was intriguing – for my companion, the Birdfair supremo, Tim Appleton, devastating. Tim has been birding all over the world, for more than half a century, yet he has never seen a buff-breasted sandpiper. He’s missed them many times – including a pair on his home patch, Rutland Water, a few years ago. So he was understandably upset to have missed his chance once again. |
| Later that day, we returned to the site, and set up our telescopes to scan the short grass. We found ringed and Kentish plovers, dunlin and little stint, and another dotterel – but no sign of the BBS, as they are known in birders’ shorthand. | Later that day, we returned to the site, and set up our telescopes to scan the short grass. We found ringed and Kentish plovers, dunlin and little stint, and another dotterel – but no sign of the BBS, as they are known in birders’ shorthand. |
| We had just a few minutes before we had to leave, when our companion, Gerold Dobler, quietly murmured, “I’ve got them.” And sure enough, there they were: two buff-breasted sandpipers, right in front of us. | We had just a few minutes before we had to leave, when our companion, Gerold Dobler, quietly murmured, “I’ve got them.” And sure enough, there they were: two buff-breasted sandpipers, right in front of us. |
| Tim was understandably delighted to have broken his duck. For me, though, the event was tinged with sadness. For without the encouragement of my late mother, and her willingness to take me on birding holidays during my teenage years, my life might have taken a very different – and far less fulfilling – path. | Tim was understandably delighted to have broken his duck. For me, though, the event was tinged with sadness. For without the encouragement of my late mother, and her willingness to take me on birding holidays during my teenage years, my life might have taken a very different – and far less fulfilling – path. |
| When I got home, I sought out my battered copy of Bill Oddie’s Little Black Bird Book, a Christmas present from my mother. Inside the cover she had written: “With fond memories of walking backwards over the golf-course in a gale – we had some wonderful times …” Yes, mum, we did. | When I got home, I sought out my battered copy of Bill Oddie’s Little Black Bird Book, a Christmas present from my mother. Inside the cover she had written: “With fond memories of walking backwards over the golf-course in a gale – we had some wonderful times …” Yes, mum, we did. |
| •Stephen Moss travelled to the Delta Bird Festival courtesy of Vida Silvestre and PhotoLogistics. | •Stephen Moss travelled to the Delta Bird Festival courtesy of Vida Silvestre and PhotoLogistics. |
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