SOME NOTES ON RARE BIRDS: PECTORAL SANDPIPER, RÜPPELL’S VULTURE, SANDHILL CRANE AND CACKLING GOOSE

Posts of this blog habitually deal with the vagrants that turn up in Extremadura. On this occasion we are going to look at several at once, each one of which had its own blog post or mention in the past.

Pectoral sandpiper (Calidris melanotos). The July 2012 summary reported the sighting of one bird at Charca de Esparragalejo (Badajoz) on 13 July (Ángel Luis Sánchez and Ángel Sánchez, top photo) and 14 July 2012 (Sergio Mayordomo, Eva Palacios -bottom photo- and César Clemente). This was the ninth record for Extremadura, the previous birds turning up in 2002, 2006, 2008 (3 birds), 2010 (2 birds) and 2011. As it happens the last bird also turned up in the same pond, Charca de Esparragalejo. The eight previous records were juveniles on post-breeding passage in September and October. The 2012 bird was an exception to this rule, an adult that turned up in July; it was also one of the four birds reported in Spain that month (according to Reservoir Birds) [Posts on pectoral sandpiper in Extremadura].

The pectoral sandpiper is in fact one of the most frequently reported rarities in Spain, with over 250 records up to 2009. There has also been an upward trend of observations in recent years, with at least 50-60 birds reported each year in 2008, 2010 and 2011. Oddly enough, in 2009 not one bird was seen in Spain; the last time this happened was back in 1989 (CR-SEO, 2011).

Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppellii). In an earlier post we commented on a bird photographed in San Vicente de Alcántara (Badajoz) on 10 January 2009 (José Gordillo); this bird has now been accepted by the rarities committee (CR-SEO, 2011); according to the committee it was an adult with plumage features typical of the west African population. But the nature magazine Quercus of July 2012 has surprised us with an article signed by one of the photographers of the bird in question (Gordillo, 2012) suggesting that the bird shows traits typical of both Rüppell's Vulture and Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus). It is therefore quite possible that the bird is a hybrid, an opinion backed up by raptor experts like Dick Forsman, William Clark and Javier Elorriaga. The case doesn't yet seem to be closed, therefore. Sierra de San Pedro in Extremadura was the first site in Spain to record Rüppell's Vulure back in 1990; in the Portuguese stretch of the River Tagus a bird was seen shortly afterwards sitting on a nest (incubating?) and since then to date there have been regular sightings of adults in this area, especially over the border in Portugal. [Other posts on Rüppell's Vulture]

To wind up this small compilation of rarities, we are pleased to report that two Extremadura records of the utmost interest have now been officially accepted:
- Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis), seen in November 2011 and January 2012 in Don Benito (Badajoz). First record for Spain.
- Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii), seen in January and February 2010 in Casas de Hitos, Navalvillar de Pela (Badajoz)-Madrigalejo (Cáceres). Second record for Spain.

Sources: 

- CR-SEO (Rarities Committee of SEO). 2011. Observaciones de aves raras en España, 2009. Ardeola 58(2). 

- Gordillo, J. 2012. Posible híbrido entre buitre leonado y buitre moteado. Quercus 217:43.

PECTORAL SANDPIPER: THE THIRD AMERICAN

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), juvenile.
Charca de Esparragalejo (Badajoz), 21.10.11 (Sergio Mayordomo).

October continues to be American wader month in Extremadura. Now it's the turn of the Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), seen on 21 October 2011 at Charca de Esparragalejo (Badajoz). The sighting was quite serendipitous, because the target bird of the visit was the White-Rumped Sandiper seen on the same pond the day before. The White-Rumped failed to appear but this Pectoral popped up instead. It was found in the morning by Sergio Mayordomo; in the afternoon it was seen at least by Miguel Rouco and on the next day (22 October) it was seen by quite a few more observers (Ángel Sánchez, Francis Prieto, Elvira del Viejo, A. Cangas, Agapito,...). And on this day there was also a Temminck's Stint around... just for good measure . .

Of this month's three Nearctic sandpipers (click here and here), the Pectoral is the commonest. In Spain it is still rated as a vagrant though perhaps not for much longer, since nearly 300 birds have been accepted up to 2008 while in September and part of October 60 more were seen, including several inland records (Burgos, Palencia, Navarra, Albacete...). This bird will be at least the eighth for Extremadura, all juveniles on autumn passage. The sighting of two birds on Galisteo Lake (Cáceres) in September 2010 was previously reported in this blog. To find out more about this previous sighting, all other Extremadura records and general info on the species, click here.

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), juvenile.
Charca de Esparragalejo (Badajoz), 22.10.11 (Ángel Sánchez).

WHAT A PAIR OF PECTORALS!!

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), two juveniles. Galisteo, Cáceres. 17.09.10 (Javier Prieta).

Two juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers (Calidris melanotos) were observed from 17 to 19 September on Galisteo lake, Cáceres. The first bird was discovered by Ricardo Montero on the morning of Friday 17. On the afternoon of the same day Ricardo himself, together with Sergio Mayordomo and Javier Prieta, found and photographed two birds, both seen again on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 (César Clemente, Arian, Memole, José Ramón Martín). During these visits 12 different wader species were seen, together with Golden Eagles, Black Storks, up to 7 Spoonbills and several migrating passerines.

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), juvenile. Galisteo, 17.09.10 (J. Prieta).

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos). Galisteo, Cáceres. 17.09.10 (J. Prieta). The two clear Vs on its back identify it as a juvenile.

The Pectoral Sandpiper is a rarity in Spain, although it is also the rare wader that turns up most often. By 2007 217 records involving 240 birds had been accepted (Díes at al. 2009). An unprecedented influx then occurred in autumn 2008, with 67 different birds recorded in Rare Birds in Spain. Another similar influx seems to have occurred in 2010, with at least 29 birds recorded in Spain from 2 to 17 September. It is therefore a species on the increase and on the point of forfeiting its rarity status.

Five records are known for Extremadura, two of them already accepted by the rarities committee:
1 - Los Canchales Reservoir (Badajoz), one juvenile, 14.09.02 (Francis Prieto).
2 - Valdesalor Reservoir (Cáceres), one juvenile, 05 and 06.09.06 (Sebastian Molano).
....... and another three pending acceptance from 2008 in Cáceres:
3 - Talaván Reservoir, one juvenile, 12.09.08 (S. Mayordomo).
4 - Casar de Cáceres Reservoir, one juvenile, 16.09.08 (Carlos Fernández).
5 - Valdesalor Reservoir, one juvenile, 14.10.08 (Carlos Fernández).
Pending publication of the 2008 and 2009 rarity reports, therefore, this will be the sixth regional record and the first one involving more than one bird. As with all the previous records, these are juvenile birds in post breeding dispersal, turning up on habitual dates (mid September).

The Pectoral Sandpiper breeds in the Arctic tundra of North America and Siberia, with an estimated population of several hundred thousand birds. It winters in Australia, South America and probably Africa. Most of the birds turning up in Europe have been traditionally considered to come basically from the North American Nearctic zone, though there is now thought to be a migratory route between Siberia and Africa, passing through Western Europe (De Juana, 2006; Gutiérrez, 2008). The theory has it that the Nearctic birds tend to move down the western part of the Peninsula and the Asiatic birds down the Mediterranean side. The Extremadura observations of 2008 and 2010 have coincided with increasing sightings in Mediterranean Spain, probably bound up with the arrival of Siberian birds, a population expanding westwards. It has even started to breed in Scotland very recently (RSPB).

References:
- De Juana, E. (2006). Las aves raras de España. Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
- Dies, J. E. et al (2009). Observaciones de aves raras en España, 2007. Ardeola 56:309-344.
- Gutiérrez, R. (2008). Pectoral Sandpiper influx in Spain, autumn 2008 (July-15 September).