Interaction between Wood 
Sandpipers and Diced Water Snake 
in Egypt 
Richard Hoath 
On 15 March 1993 1 was birdwatching at Gebel Asfar, just east of Cairo 
and about 10km north of the Cairo - Ismaileya road. The area is 
characterised by orchards and farmland fertilised by the city's sewage, 
and by numerous irrigation canals, ditches and shallow ponds. 
It was late afternoon and I was watching beside one of these ponds . It was 
very shallow with areas of exposed mud and surrounded mainly by 
reeds Phragmites. Redshank Tringa totanus and Wood Sandpiper Tringa 
glareola were feeding in the shallows. 
A ripple in the water alerted me to a snake crossing the open water from 
left to right. The head and parts of the body were visible above the water 
and I identified it as a Diced Water Snake Natrix tessellata. This was 
confirmed later by a colleague present, Sherif Baha el Din, an expert on 
Egyptian reptiles. 
The snake headed towards a group of three to four Wood Sandpipers and 
I expected the birds to flush or at least to move away from the snake. 
Instead the birds stayed not only close but actively followed it, wading 
through the water, some just a few centimetres away and within easy 
striking range. Furthermore, as the snake progressed, other Wood 
Sandpipers flew in until there were at least 14 birds following it closely 
and flying up only when collision with the snake seemed inevitable. The 
numbers involved were later confirmed from photographs. For its part, 
the snake kept a straight course and appeared to take no notice of the 
birds. When it reached the reeds flanking the pond it left the water for 
cover. This enabled the snake's identification to be confirmed. The 
sandpipers gathered round the point where the snake had left the water 
and looked at where it had disappeared, some craning their necks into 
the reeds. At no point did the Redshank present show any interest in the 
snake or the Wood Sandpipers. 
While snakes do take adult birds from the water ( Willock 1992), there are 
no published records of the Diced Water Snake doing so. Wood Sandpipers 
and Diced Water Snakes cannot be considered prey and predator. The 
former is preyed upon by various raptors, gulls, foxes and dogs 
(Nethersole-Thompson and Nethersole-Thompson 1986) while the latter's 
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