When we got back to the campsite yesterday, the Swedish couple were keen to tell us about a small wader they had seen swimming underwater ‑ twice!! We were mystified, waders swimming on the water we knew about, but swimming underneath? They insisted that it was the common sandpiper we had pointed out to them yesterday. It had walked to the edge of the water, opened its wings as if to fly, but gone into the water and swum underneath, returning to the sea wall some distance away.
We spend some time this morning watching along the sea wall and find a common sandpiper along the shore and a razorbill fishing close in and coming up close to the edge.
We consult BWP and eventually find that common sandpipers are indeed capable underwater swimmers in an emergency, and young chicks will swim to escape predators. We approach the sandpiper several times, but are unable to recreate the emergency that had caused it to swim yesterday.
A purple sandpiper seems to find the algae-covered 45 degree angle of the sea wall a bit too much at times. Nevertheless it works its way along, pecking here and there and occasionally pulling out a large worm. It hides in holes while preening or resting.
Also in the holes in the wall surface are crabs which come out as the tide falls and feed either on the algae or on other things on the algae. Whenever a large gull flies over, or a person walks by the railing, they scuttle back to the safety of their holes.
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