I was thinking about the migration of the sandpipers we see here occasionally, in particular the Sharptailed and the Pectoral. Given its overall presence in Australia, the latter rarity has been recorded here disproportionately
– in 7 years in the last 12. It is a ‘wrong side’ (of the Pacific) visitor, like the Sharptail is on the other side of the Pacific, one at present in Nova Scotia. It seems possible that individuals take off with the wrong flock, a Pec with Sharptails and
vice-versa. Looking into this, I see juvenile Sharptails are believed to take a very different migration route from adults, travelling first on a 2300km fattening-up detour from Siberia to Alaska, where they would be likely to meet up with migrating Pectorals,
with some confused individuals among both species as a result.
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