Hi,
Hoping somebody will be able to help me ID some waders - I'm beyond useless at these guys having had zero experience with them.
Unfortunately, they were in the most inaccessible area possible, so photos are shocking and overly-cropped...
Firstly, some distant Eastern Curlews. These I was fairly confident about....??!
I can't even tell how many species are in the following few photos. At least 2, if not 3. One has some red around the neck area, leading me to suspect Red-necked Stints? And I suspect there's a few longer-billed birds which may be some sort of Sandpiper?
These are the ones with the red on them:
The bottom right area of the water in this image there's one of the longer-billed birds:
And here's a few random snaps that may help see them a bit more... I think these might be the same as the birds with red on them but in more non-breeding plumage??
There were hundreds of these tiny birds:
Here's 2 little ones flying in:
And there were also hundreds of Kelp Gulls, some of which were on nests, like these 2:
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Sorry again for the crappy photos. I can go back tomorrow and try for better ones if need be... I also saw 3 Cape Barren Geese which was cool.
Cheers,
Scott.
Hi Scott I'm not really good at this but I do have a 'Shorebirds of Australia' book with pics of the upper wings when in flight, and the 'two flying in' do look like plovers, maybe grey plovers? and in the 2nd and 3rd pics the ones with red on their heads look a bit like red-capped plovers to me. I'm not sure though, the pictures get fuzzy if I try to enlarge them (I haven't kept copies, just saved them temporarily to try to get a better look). Sorry I don't think I am really much help.
Meave
Hi Scott, I share your frustration. Yesterday we walked a long way in the heat to see some Shore birds at Edwards Point (on the Bellarine Peninsula) All the birds were miles away on the other side of the lagoon. I deleted all of them.We saw Terns and Stints, flocks of White faced Herons and Egrets ...Pelicans.. but all too far away. I don't know much about those birds either. If it's alright with you, I put one of my bad photos on here, so who ever is good, can ID them at the same time. Thanks Scott. M-L
M-L
Very hard to see some of yours Scott but im still trying. ML yours might be and i say might be a Bar tailed Godwit.Not sure though.
Will try again to post here.. It just rejected me for some reason!
Thanks all for the help.
1. I agree with the Red-capped Plover call Meave - thanks for your efforts :)
2. You're welcome to add to my woes here M-L! I agree (though clearly I'm no expert) from your much better photos, that they may well be Bar-tailed Godwits. I went back to try to get better shots today... Can't say I succeeded... but I wonder if that's the same bird as yours in this picture of mine (with a few other 'by-standers'):
And (another blurry picture sorry!) - do you think these 3 are something different? Like Greenshanks?
3. I also think that the most numerous bird from y'day and today, might be Red-necked Stints. Here is a slightly less blurry photo:
Thanks for looking, and thanks again for all your help :)
Cheers,
Scott.
Scott, I'm confident about the birds in photos 2 & 3 being red-capped plovers, less confident about the birds in photo 4 being red-necked stints & not at all confident about the birds in photo 6 being sanderlings.
Araminta, I can't see anything in my Morcombe which has relatively long legs, long, down-curved bill, grey top & white underside. Perhaps I need to take a woman's look.
M-L:
I can find 2 birds with upturned bills which could be posssibilities:
1. Common Greenshank - BILL: slate GREY at base with black tip, greenish legs.
2. Bar-tailed Godwits - BILL: pink at base with blackish tip, dark grey legs.
I'm leaning towards Greenshanks now. I think they're more grey'ish than brown overall. If you look at the bird 2nd from right, I think he does have greenish legs. Maybe you can zoom in on the bills and have a better look?
Cheers,
Scott.
Thanks guys, here is a slightly closer version of the same bird. I think Cath & Shane are right, the bill is fairly long and upturned, as in the Bar-tailed Godwit??
M-L
That one on the far right has a leg band...
Have you thought about a Marsh Sandpiper? They do have the longer greenish legs, but not sure about the bill - yours does seem a bit lightly upturned but I find it hard to tell. Just a thought.
Meave