Greater Sand Plover at Cliffe Pools

August 14th 1992

Terry Laws

On Friday 14th August I went along to Tilbury to see the Greater Sand Plover which had been there from about 10th August. I saw the bird well as it was being pushed up the mud by the incoming tide. After watching it for about 25 minutes it flew off with about ten Ringed Plover, and I followed it with a telescope as the group flew over the Thames towards Cliffe. I could then see the group drop down in front of the "Radar Tower", and they had obviously gone down on the high tide roost at Cliffe Pools. I then said to a friend, Brian Churches, who had also seen the bird well, that I was going round to Cliffe as this would be a Kent "tick" and may be a first record for the county. We both drove round and parked at the Radar Tower and walked along the south side of the Flamingo Pool and scoped the waders which were roosting on the far side. After about an hour and no luck in finding the bird, we walked up to the Coastguards' Pool to see if it was there, but once again no luck. We then walked down the central track to view the roost from the other side. After about ten minutes I found the Greater Sand Plover on the mud, slightly away from the main flock and in amongst Ringed Plover and Dunlin. I immediately got Brian Churches onto the bird in case it flew. As we were watching the bird another two birders were walking along the track, Kevin Button and Dominic Pia, and we pointed the bird out to them. After about five to ten minutes the bird left with some other waders at about 4.00 p.m. as the tide was dropping and it headed back towards Tilbury ; however it was not seen again.

The bird was slightly larger than a Ringed Plover, with a fuller body and longer legs. It was a light sand brown above and white below. There was a dark carpal patch on the wings when the bird was at rest, and the primaries also appeared slightly darker. The bill was larger than that of a Ringed Plover but not as large as I had expected, having seen many Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers in various parts of Asia, most recently in China and Hong Kong in May 1992. The bird had a light rufous breast band which was very faint in the centre, but certainly complete, with larger patches of rufous on the sides of the breast. The legs were yellowish/green, darker than Ringed Plover, but not as dark as Dunlin. A slight white wing bar was noted when in flight. The bird also stood out from Ringed Plover in flight by its larger size.