I got a call from a local resident late this morning to say that he had just seen a White-backed Stilt (A very rare vagrant) on the football pitch by the community school. I got to the football pitch within 5 minutes of the call but there was no sign of the Stilt, just 6 Upland Geese feeding on the pitch. Looking around the football pitch the only bit of mud and a little water was in the goal mouth.

I called Mike & Sue Morrison and Mick Reeves to let them know about the bird and to keep a lookout for it.

A couple of hours later I got a call from Mick stating he had “something” in one of the potato fields near the market garden. When I got there he had identified it as a female Least Seedsnipe a very rare vagrant for the Falkland Islands. I have only seen one before in the Falklands and that was in October 1990.

Female Least Seedsnipe           

Female Least seedsnipe

The Least Seedsnipe was in the company of one of the Eared Doves that had been seen in a potato field nearby a few weeks ago.

Violet-eared Dove & Least Seedsnipe      

Later I got another call from Mick to say “Get to the Golf Course Now!!!!” He had followed Mike & Sue down that end of the harbour where Mike & Sue had relocated the White-backed Stilt. I got there in time to get a very poor record shot of it on the shore before the light faded. This is my first record of White-backed Stilt in the Islands.

White-backed Stilt

A massive thanks to Jeremy Poncet for finding and calling me about the White-backed Stilt and congrats to Mick for finding the Least Seedsnipe and to Mike & Sue for relocating the White-backed Stilt.