Dr Nial Moores, Could 2026
Following the rain of Could third which helped produce the island’s first Asian Dowitcher 큰부리도요, the climate on Could 4th appeared unremarkable, and there was little proof of any type of arrival on Baengnyeong Island. Along with Professor Rebecca Hartman and Birds Korean John Kitcher, we due to this fact determined to spend a half hour or so on the primary seashore searching for six Siberian Sand Plovers Anarhynchus mongolus (considerably confusingly beforehand generally known as Lesser Sand Plover then as Mongolian Sand Plover Charadrius mongolus) which had been discovered by eBird’s Ian Davies yesterday.
Alongside the shoreline we discovered a couple of Sanderling and Purple-necked Stint, and watched with pleasure a number of Kentish Plover, together with a pair with younger. Strolling again to the seawall, RH noticed a motion subsequent to a tidal pool beneath the seawall: a beautiful Pacific Golden Plover. Though 200m away and into the sunshine, NM determined to scope the pool, and instantly noticed an odd-looking feminine sand plover in breeding plumage. The invoice regarded lengthy, and ID as Larger Sand Plover Anarhynchus leschenaultii – a scarce, not even annual species on the island – initially appeared the most definitely match. A couple of seconds later, nevertheless, and a second hen moved into view. This was an grownup male with what regarded like a full black face-mask and a equally lengthy invoice to the feminine…Pressure and anticipation rose rapidly: had been these as a substitute Tibetan Sand Plovers?
We moved very cautiously towards the pool, and over the subsequent half-hour or so had been capable of watch each birds properly. Each regarded like “Lesser Sand Plovers”, with rounded heads, missing the majority and flat-crowned and flat-backed look of Larger Sand Plover. Each had lengthy, slightly skinny trying payments, and pretty lengthy, darkish legs (paler legs can be anticipated in Larger Sand Plover). The male had a large black brow with two tiny gray headlights close to to the attention – missing the white brow spots typical of Mongolian / Siberian Sand Plover. The breast band was brilliant orange-red, slightly than darkish brick-red, and these brilliant tones prolonged throughout the nape and onto the brow. The upperparts on each regarded slightly brilliant too (nearly sandy-brown with paler fringes) and the flanks on each lacked any signal of the brown mottling which is taken into account diagnostic of “Mongolian” Siberian Sand Plover.
Not like feminine Siberian Sand Plovers, the feminine Tibetan lacked clear black on the pinnacle; and as a substitute regarded slightly brilliant above.
Discovering a single Tibetan Sand Plover in Korea can be wonderful, however two collectively…? Shocked, I despatched a number of texts to Ian Davies and Alli Smith, encouraging them to get to the positioning rapidly; and in addition texted Birds Korea member Andy Lee, who was additionally on the island with a number of “Younger Gun” birders from the college birding membership.
ID and AS arrived most likely inside thirty minutes and took some great flight photographs of the male, confirming the shortage of brown flank markings, and that the toes prolonged past the tail – one other function supporting ID as Tibetan Sand Plover... AL’s crew arrived slightly later, and sadly couldn’t relocate the birds.
To dispel any incredulity over the ID as Tibetan Sand Plover, NM despatched a couple of pictures to Dave Bakewell in Malaysia. DB is broadly recognised as a / the main knowledgeable on their ID; and his commentary on social media offered many of the options that I used within the subject on Baengnyeong. Fortunately, as anticipated, DB confirmed that he had little doubt that each birds had been certainly Tibetan Sand Plover. Gorgeous.
The following day, each birds had been once more current on the identical web site, this time with a Siberian Sand Plover, and had been photographed once more by NM, RK, ID and in addition by Professor Kim Younger-Gul and Tony Lee. Not less than the male was current on Could sixth too.
Tibetan Sand Plover is a latest species cut up that resulted from a radical evaluation by Wei, Schweizer, Tomkovich et al. (2022) which discovered that that the mongolus subspecies group of Lesser Sand Plover (an everyday and domestically quite a few species throughout migration alongside the ROK coast en route to breeding grounds in NE Asia and wintering areas in SE Asia and Australia) was really extra carefully associated to Larger Sand Plover (scarce in Korea) than to the extra western distributed atrifrons subspecies group. They due to this fact beneficial that Lesser Sand Plover be divided into two full species: extra western Tibetan Sand Plover and extra jap Siberian Sand Plover.
Primarily based on a pre-publication textual content, this cut up of Lesser Sand Plover into two species was accepted by Birds Korea in our 2022 guidelines, with inclusion of Tibetan Sand Plover on the Korean listing primarily based on a photograph of a hen taken by Chai Seung-Hoon in Gunsan – apparently on Could 2nd 2010. This cut up was additionally accepted by the IOC and Avilist on February twelfth 2023; and by the Korean Ornithological Society in 2025, which gave Tibetan Sand Plover the Korean identify of 검은이마왕눈물떼새.
The Tibetan Sand Plovers due to this fact turn into the 403rd hen species since 2013 to be recorded on Baengnyeong Island; and are maybe solely the second nationwide document to be adequately documented with pictures. Whereas undoubtedly uncommon in Korea, primarily based on their recognized vary and migratory standing, it appears probably that extra Korean data will observe…
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What to search for? Separation from Larger Sand Plover and Siberian Sand Plover will be made on construction always of the yr (particularly invoice size, lack of invoice “swelling” and leg size); and through northward migration particularly, by the absence of head lights, the width of the breast band; the relative brightness of the plumage, and naturally on the absence of brown markings alongside the flanks.
With honest because of all those that kindly shared their pictures, permitting this document to be absolutely documented.
