The Wood Sandpiper is one of the commonest waders in our area occurring both as a passage migrant and winter visitor. It breeds in the marshes of northern Asia and favours marshlands when wintering. It likes well-vegetated areas and will, for example, happily feed in wet paddy which is considerably higher than itself. This means it can be very widespread, particularly on passage, and the total numbers are certainly much higher than the counts from a few favoured wetlands suggest.

The first birds arrive in August and in September numbers at good sites can reach 1500. Three to five hundred is a more usual peak estimate at passage times while wintering numbers rarely exceed 100 at any one site. They depart in April and May but there are usually a few around in the summer which may be over-summering first year birds, late departures or early returning adults that have failed to breed. Their preference for well-vegetated areas means that the scattered flocks are often monospecific. However they also feed on shallow pools and mud when they readily mix with other wader species.

The characteristic, insistent “chiff chiff chiff” call is a familiar sound in the wetter parts the countryside