This article, by a then-prominent member of the Club, first appeared in ‘British Birds’ issue 40:6 (page 188), in 1947.
Bird and place names were spelt as shown. For their current status, please see our county lists.
Wood Sandpiper in Warwickshire.
On the evening of August 13th, 1946, I was standing near the sandy border of a small lake in a sand and gravel quarry near Coventry , when a Wood-Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) flew past within four yards of me and pitched near by. Making use of good cover offered by the tall reedmace, I was able to approach to within three yards of the bird.
In flight, the general appearance of the bird, seen in good light, was much lighter than that of the Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus), while the white on the rump, though conspicuous, was far less extensive than in that species. The barring on the tail was also a noticeable feature. The wings and upper-parts were warm dark brown, liberally spotted with buff, but as the bird was flying low over the water, the undersides of the wings were not seen. The bird called several times. in flight, a clear, high-pitched “chiff-iff-iff,” similar to the notes uttered by the Wood-Sandpiper I recorded in the same locality on May 9th and 10th, 1946 (antea, Vol. xxxix, p. 285).
The bird, which I conclude was a juvenile, appears to be the third recorded in Warwickshire, as Mr. C. A. Norris informs me that the bird I recorded in May was the second for the county and the first since 1898. The fact that certain areas of Warwickshire have been little watched, suggests that this species may be less rare than the few records indicate.
R. W. M. Lee.
Reproduced by kind permission of British Birds 
.
Thanks to Dr. Malcolm Ogilvie for scanning the original, from his collection.