Dutch Birding volume 24 (2002) no 3

Spotted Sandpiper at Île de Gorée, Senegal, in February 2001

On 20 February 2001 around 09:00, Cornelie van der Hoop observed and photographed a Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularia at Île de Gorée, off Dakar, Senegal. The bird was foraging and resting on the rocky shoreline at the south-eastern side of the island. It foraged among several Ruddy Turnstones Arenaria interpres.

SIZE & SHAPE Small wader resembling Common Sandpiper A hypoleucos, obviously smaller than nearby Turnstones. Impression 'heavy' and robust. Steep forehead giving angled shape to head.
HEAD Clear pale white supercilium and darker eye-stripe. Crown, side of head and neck uniform grey.
UPPERPARTS Mantle uniformly brownish grey, edge of scapulars darker.
UNDERPARTS Breast, belly, flank and undertail-coverts white. Sides of breast up to neck with dark patch, clearly not connected on breast (field observation).
TAIL Not visible.
WING Uniform brownish grey.
BARE PARTS Bill clearly bicoloured, with orange-yellow base and dark brown (horn) tip. Leg and toe pale flesh to orange-yellow.
BEHAVIOUR Slowly walking over boulders.

Based on the white underparts, the bird was in winter plumage. The visible characters separating it from Common Sandpiper were the orange-yellow legs, toes and base of the bill, the stocky shape of the bird with a short (not visible) tail, the dark patch on the side of the breast, the clear white supercilium and the angled head (cf Svensson et al 1999).
This record constitutes the first for Senegal and the third for sub-Saharan mainland Africa. Previous sub-Saharan records concerned adults photographed in central Kenya on 4-5 September 1999 and in south-western Cameroon on 21 April 2000 (Bishop & Bishop 2001, Languy & Lambin 2001). In the south-western Western Palearctic, this Nearctic counterpart of Common Sandpiper is a frequent vagrant (Mitchell & Young 1997). For instance, there are several records for the Cape Verde Islands and the Canary Islands and at least three (in April 1990, May 1995 and April 1999) for Morocco (cf Bergier et al 2000, Languy & Lambin 2001). Most transatlantic records of this species are from Britain and Ireland, particularly in September-October, but also in other months.

Tom M van der Have, Furkabaan 674, 3524 ZL Utrecht, Netherlands
tvanderhavehetnet.nl

Cornelie van der Hoop