Little Stint & Dunlin at Farmoor

This was one of those days that you always hope for as a birdwatcher. At Farmoor reservoir, both a dunlin and little stint could be found foraging together on the fringes of the water. When you read up on these species, they seem quite tricky to set apart from one another - so when the opportunity came to view them side-by-side in the field I was very excited! As can be seen, the little stint is a smaller bird, with an overall slightly more rounded appearance and less mottling on the belly. The dunlin's slightly longer and down-curved bill also seemed much more obvious when next to the little stint's short, straight and stubbier one.