Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola)

OTHER NAMES: Common Pratincole
Latin Etymology: Glareola ("gravel") pratincola ("inhabitant of the meadow")

Adult Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola) at Frampton Marshes, Lincolnshire - June 2025

Featured Subspecies: Presumed Glareola pratincola pratincola
Weight: 85g  /  Length: 24-28cm  /  Wingspan: 60-70cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Like other pratincoles, a perculiar wader with a more swallow like form and mode of feeding in the air. The Collared breeds around the Mediterranean and Central Asia, and Winters in Eastern and Equatorial Africa, although some populatons are resident, and, unsually, there are breeding migratory populations in Southern Africa. In the UK, it is the most frequent pratincole vagrant with usually a few records each year.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Glareolidae
Genus: Glareola
SUBSPECIES: G. p. pratincola, G. p. erlangeri, G. p. fuelleborni

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM -  A rare vagrant
 - Vagrant seen at Frampton Marshes in June 2025.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Calidris (bird named by Aristotle) pusilla ("very small")

 Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla ) at Frampton Marshes, Lincolnshire - October 2023

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 20-32g  /  Length: 13-15cm  /  Wingspan: 35-37cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Near Threatened

A small North American wader which gets its name from the partial webbing between it's toes, the Semipalmated Sandpiper is another Arctic breeding long-distant migrant species that Winters in South America. It turns up as a vagrant in Europe in most years.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Calidris
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A rare vagrant
 - Vagrant seen at Frampton Marshes in October 2023. 

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Calidris (bird named by Aristotle) subruficollis ("rufous-necked") 

Juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis) at Frampton Marshes, Lincolnshire - October 2023

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 63g  /  Length: 19-23cm  /  Wingspan: 46cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Near Threatened

An unusual looking wader that breeds in the Arctic of Alaska, Canada and Russia before taking part in a vast migration down to Winter in Uruguay and the surrounding areas. It's vast migration makes it prone to vagrancy, and has turned up in many parts of the world. They leave the nest within 12 hours of hatching and are able to feed themselves.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Calidris
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A rare vagrant
 - Vagrant seen at Frampton Marshes in October 2023.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Tringa (bird named by Aristotle) flavipes ("yellow foot")

Non-breeding Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) at Frampton Marshes, Lincolnshire - September 2023

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 48-114g  /  Length: 23-25cm  /  Wingspan: 59-64cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A medium sized if slender wader that spans the length of the Americas from it's breeding grounds in Alaska to it's wintering grounds spreading right down the length of South America. Despite the name association, it is not the closest relative of the Greater Yellowlegs, but nonetheless it is a species that gives a very similar impression, largely differentiated by size and structural detail.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Tringa
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A rare vagrant
 - Vagrant seen at Frampton Marshes in September 2023.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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White-tailed Lapwing (Vanellus leucurus)

OTHER NAMES: White-tailed Plover
Latin Etymology: Vanellus ("lapwing") leucurus ("white tailed")

Adult White-tailed Plover (Vanellus leucurus) at Frampton Marshes, Lincolnshire - March 2022

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 130g  /  Length: 26-29cm  /  Wingspan: 55-70cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The White-tailed Lapwing breeds largely in central Asia and the Middle East - predominantly in inland marshes of Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with more isolated populations in a few other countries. Many populations are migratory, heading to North-East Africa and the Indian subcontinent in Winter, which is presumably where this particular individual got very lost and ended up turning up in the UK. As of writing it has been present along the East Coast for a few months, but it was only when it came a little nearer to me at Frampton I took the shot to go see it.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae
Genus: Vanellus
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A very rare vagrant

 - Vagrant seen at Frampton Marshes in March 2022.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Merlin (Falco columbarius)

OTHER NAMES: Pigeon Hawk

Latin Etymology: Falco ("falcon") columbarius ("pertaining to doves")

Adult Female Merlin (subspecies F. c. aesolon) at Flamborough, Yorkshire - November 2023

Featured Subspecies: Falco columbarius aesolon
Weight: 165-230g  /  Length: 24-33cm  /  Wingspan: 50-73cm
UK AMBER LIST / IUCN Red List - Least Concern

Out of all the species represented on this blog thus far, none have had more hours put into finding them with so little success.  A dashing little bird and the smallest raptor in the UK, despite repeated visits to sites which are good for them and had reported them regularly, I ended up with at best fleeting glimpses of "probables" flying past me at high speed, or far more usually, no sign at all of them.  Most frustratingly, of all British species this had been one I had wanted to see since a young age.  When I finally managed to take this photograph I hadn't even been looking for one, I was on a casual walk and I'd just happened to turn round and inspect a distant bird that had alighted on a post further back on the path I had just walked down only to realise this chance glance was the bird that had vexed me on potentially dozens of occasions.  For the good of anyone else who wishes to see this lovely if frustrating bird, I'm going to refrain from advice in case I jinx you.

Related Species:
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Genus: Falco
Subspecies: F. c. columbarius, F. c. suckleyi, F. c. richardsonii, F. c. subawesalon, F. c. aesalon, F. c. insignis, F. c. pacificus, F. c. pallidus, F. c. lymani

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - Scarce and local breeding species (900-1500 pairs) - migrates internally in the UK in Winter

 - Indiviiduals at Onager Hill, Frampton Marshes  and Flamborough Head in 2023, , 1 female at Harlyn Bay in April 2014.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)

OTHER NAMES: Bonaparte's Sandpiper

Latin Etymology: Calidris (grey waterbird mentioned by Aristotle) fuscicollis ("dusky/brown")

Adult White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) at Frampton Marshes, Lincolnshire - September 2023

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 42g  /  Length: 17-20cm  /  Wingspan: 43cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Another North American vagrant species, they nest on the Northern Tundra of Canada and Alaska, and then Winter in northern South America. It is considered scarce in the UK and in all liklihood, you'll probably only find one if it's pointed out to you as it looks very much like a dunlin. It is however, slightly smaller, with a shorter, straighter beak and most tellingly very long wings which extend past the end of its tail when walking. Not necessarily the most visually stunning species in the world, but still incredibly impressive when you consider what a harsh environment this tiny fellow normally lives in and how far he's traveled to get here!

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Calidris
Subspecies: none - monotypic

- Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A rare vagrant from North America.

 - A single bird seen at Rutland Water in October 2011, another at Frampton Marshes in September 2023.

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .