Common Sandpipers Also Dive to Escape Danger: in England
52 Wader Study Group Bulletin wastinging a day-oldchick beside the GlentressWater, Scot- a shortdistance underwater (water depthranging from 2 to tish Borders,the soleparent guarding the chick was giving 30 cm), and emergedunscathed. alarmcalls and performing the broken-wingdistraction dis- play on the oppositeshore, about 6 m away.Suddenly a male Minton, C. 2001. Waders diving and swimming underwateras a means SparrowhawkAccipiter nisus appearedand stoopedat the of escape.Wader Study Group Bull. 96: 86. adultsandpiper, which promptly dived into the stream,swam Common Sandpipers also dive to escape danger: in England D.W. YALDEN School of BiologicalSciences, 3.238 StopfordBuilding, VictoriaUniversity of Manchester, M13 9PT, UK, e-maih d. w.yalden @man. ac. uk The note by Clive Minton (Minton 2001) recordingdiving On 12 July 1997, also on the River Ashop, a recently to escapepredation or captureby OystercatchersHaema- fledgedbird was retrappedin a mistnetset acrossthe fiver. topus ostralegus and a Black-winged Stilt Himantopus On releaseit flew only about20 m beforeflopping into the himantopusprompts me to report five similar recordsfor water and swimmingto hide amongthe rootsof a bankside CommonSandpiper Actitis hypoleucos. aldertree. At 39 g, andwith bill andwing lengthsof 22 mm On 2 April 1992, on our River Ashopstudy site in Derby- and 105mm respectively,it appearedto be only 21 daysold, shire, England (Yalden 1986), I heard a pair of Common but hadbeen finged at about5 daysold on 13 June1997, and Sandpipersin courtship,trilling on
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