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Purple Sandpiper - Fjæreplytt - Calidris maritima
Skarsnappa - Sortgrå ryle - Merissiri - Sichelstandlaufe - Bécasseau violet - Correlimos Oscuro




Purple Sandpiper are one of my favourite birds - part due to childhood associations to this species at Stag Rocks in Northumberland but mostly due to their extreme lifesyle and the conditions they not only survive but thrive under. They spend the winter months in some of the harshest conditions imaginable - rocky shores pounded by winter storms.

This is a species that really connects the place where I grew up (one of the best Purple Sandpiper locations in England) to where I currently live in south west Norway (where they are also a common winter visitor). I have also seen them resting and feeding on offshore vessels and installations in the Barent's Sea and the North Sea. They were a common sight whilst doing dimensional control surveys of suction anchors in Hammerfest.

They are not a particularly shy species and, given the chance, relatively easy to photograph with the main challenge being finding them in the first place.

For more details about this species at Stag Rocks, Northumberland, England click here. For details of occurrence at Skogsøy, Øygarden, Norway click here.


Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær, October 2018

Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær, October 2018

Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær, October 2018
Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær, October 2018



Purple Sandpiper - fjæreplytt
Picture taken at Stag Rocks, Northumberland, April 2009

Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær
Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær, December 2011
Picture taken using a DSLR and a 400mm telephoto lens







Purple Sandpiper
Stag Rocks, Northumberland, April 2009

Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær
Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær, December 2011
Picture taken using a DSLR and a 400mm telephoto lens - hand held

Purple Sandpiper, Hjelme, November 2018
Purple Sandpiper, Hjelme, November 2018
This photo was taken from a small boat - often the best way to get close to this species



Purple Sandpiper on the helideck of an offshore survey vessel'
Purple Sandpiper on the helideck of an offshore survey vessel - picture taken using a Nikon Coolpix without any telephoto equipment.

The above picture was taken 19th September 2006, onboard a survey / construction vessel on the Ormen Lange gas field, some 100 km NW of Kristiansund, Norway. As with other records I have had of Purple Sandpiper offshore this bird was typically tame. It fed on the seemingly abundant supply of bugs that had landed onboard. It may also have found food in some seabed sediments that were on the deck.

Purple Sandpiper
These two shots were taken from a small boat during the SEAPOP count in Øygarden, 18 February 2010
The colour ringed bird below was ringed in Sweden and was seen there later the same winter.

Colour ringed Purple Sandpiper



Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær
Purple Sandpiper, Herdlevær, December 2011





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