Pectoral Sandpiper 4th Record in the UAE

News this week was of a Pectoral Sandpiper seen at Mirfa Water Treatment Plant in the Western Region of the UAE. It was reported on Thursday last week but it was Sunday before I could get out there. Mirfa is about a 2.5 hour drive from Dubai towards the Saudi Border. As this was a lifer for me I was not going to miss out and decided to put the effort in. So Sunday I awoke at 04:00am and set off on my 220km drive to Mirfa. The journey was uneventful and eventually arrived at 07:00am.

The very first bird I saw was the Sandpiper feeding on a small patch of grass. Unfortunately I was soon to learn that it was a very shy bird and it flushed before I could get any shots.  As there is only desert around the plant I knew it would be back so I patiently waited.  I was eventually rewarded soon after when the bird happened re-appear to land on some grass where there was cover for me to approach slowly and out of sight.

Some images I managed during those few minutes are below.

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)