Common Sandpiper

The common sandpiper is a lively, restless little wader, instantly recognisable by its constant tail-bobbing. Its silhouette is low and horizontal, with an olive-brown back and white underparts that extend upward in a point before the shoulder. In flight, it skims the water surface with rapid, stiff-winged beats interspersed with short glides. A passage visitor and winter guest in the Vendée marshes, it follows the muddy edges of ditches and ponds in search of small invertebrates.