Siberian Waders Flock To Britain

Bird On! News
25th October 1996

This autumn has seen a classic invasion of Siberian migrant waders calling in on their way to winter in Africa. These birds come to Britain every year in small numbers but, about every three or four years, there are hundreds - or even thousands - of these birds brought across by Easterly winds. The birds have even turned up inland on small gravel pits.

The two species involved are the tiny Little Stint and the Curlew Sandpiper. The same weather conditions brought across large numbers of other (passerine) migrants to the East Coast and a scattering of Wrynecks both on the coast and inland. The waders breed in the High Arctic and migrate South to winter in Africa - both inland and (particularly Curlew Sandpiper) along the coast.