Have you ever stayed out until dusk, watching waders on a calm day in late summer? Chances are, you will have heard Common Sandpipers Actitis hypoleucos calling excitedly as they gain height, turn a wide arc, then head off into the night. Hours later, they are still on the wing, and you may pick up their calls just about anywhere in Europe.
As in most waders, flight calls of Common Sandpipers are the same day or night. The call that they nearly always use is among the easiest of all NFCs to recognise. Variation mostly concerns the length, depending for example on whether the caller is alone or not. Rarely, we may hear an additional second call-type from excited flocks, but we could be forgiven for failing to notice or identify it.
Common Sandpipers do often travel alone, and one individual might be the only bird you pick up in a whole night. It is also true for many listening stations that few nights from mid-July until September will go by without at least one Common Sandpiper. They occur in many other months too, so this is a key species to learn.
lone individuals
flocks
Effects of recording quality
Effects of distance, acoustic surroundings and recording quality