When word got out that Holdsworth had spotted the marsh sandpiper, bird watchers wanted their own sightings. This Asiatic bird barely shows up on the west coast of North America and in Alaska occasionally, but it's even a rare bird on the Atlantic coast on the British side. (Source: Matt Parsons)“When I saw that, my heart was beating, hands shaking, and just disbelief that this was actually here. The marsh sandpiper differs from lesser yellowlegs in that it has a very pale head and neck, long thin bill, long green legs and white wedge up the back. “When it flies it has a big V of white up the back which is very distinctive, and it's got long green legs, unlike anything in North America,” says Holdsworth. He says he knew right away it was something special as it looked similar to other yellowlegs in the area, but could tell by the pale colour in the head and neck that it was a sandpiper. “I couldn't have picked anything rare if I tried terms of like a fantasy board.” “It’s mind blowing rarity,” says Holdsworth. He often stops in that spot, and couldn’t believe his eyes Saturday. Local birder James Holdsworth was the first to spot the sandpiper from the road near the lagoons.
It’s the first time the bird has been recorded in Canada.
to catch a glimpse of the marsh sandpiper. Most people have never seen this unless you've traveled the world,” Morin adds.īrian Morin drove nearly 700 km from Cornwall, Ont. “It's a shorebird which may not look that much different from the other birds that are around, but when you get something like this, it's a one of a kind. “This is the first record for Canada,” says Morin. But the 700 kilometre trip was worth the wait. to see it.Ī few metres away was Brian Morin, a bird enthusiast left his home in Cornwall, Ont.
"I’m here for the marsh sandpiper,” says Sue Deadman, who travelled nearly 400 kilometres from Orillia, Ont. to catch a glimpse of a bird never before seen in Canada. Over the past two days, hundreds of bird enthusiasts have flocked to a lagoon in Thedford, Ont.