UK / EUROPE

Common sandpiper - Actitis hypoleucos

A summer visitor to the UK after wintering in Africa. It is found along the shoreline of lakes and rivers, though can also be seen at the coast. It displays a characteristic bobbing of its rear body and is told from other sandpipers by the white gap between the folded wing and the bib.


The white gap is just visible here, though it is often clearer to see than this suggests. Swithland reservoir, Leicestershire, UK.
20th April 2006

Ref: CommonSandpiper1

Common sandpiper - Actitis hypoleucos

The Camargue, France
5th November 2006

Ref: CommonSandpiper2