Show us your shorebirds (waders)

[offshorebirder]

I love shorebirding more than any other kind - even pelagic birding. Though I love warbler waves in migration, sussing out sparrows on the wintering grounds, and sorting through flocks of ducks and other waterfowl - being on a mudflat communing with shorebirds is my idea of paradise.

 

Let's post some photos of shorebirds we enjoy around the world.

 

I will start things off with some shots of one of the Red-necked Phalaropes that took refuge from Tropical Storm Anna as it passed offshore on May 9 of this year, at the Yawkey Wildlife Center in coastal South Carolina. This species is seldom seen onshore in eastern North America - birders usually pick them up for their life list on offshore pelagic birding trips.

 

You can see the lobed toes of the phalarope in the second photo. Winds at the time were 30+ knots - making for tricky photography!

 

 

Adult female Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus):

Red-necked Phalarope and a Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) intruding into its "feeding zone":

 

Red-necked Phalarope seeing off a Semipalmated Sandpiper:

Here is a short video clip:

Edited May 20, 2015 by offshorebirder

[Tom Kellie]

Juvenile Larus michahellis by Canale della Giudecca

Photographed on 1 April, 2013 at 5:09 pm on the Giudecca Canal in Venice, Italy, with an EOS 1D X camera and a Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 50mm f/2 ZE lens.

ISO 100, F/2, 1/4000 sec., handheld, manual focus, Manual exposure.

***********************************************************************************************

This thread specifies waders, which I understand. Yet this particular Larus michahellis, Yellow-legged Gull, may merit temporary honorary wader status.

This image on a post was taken after watching it for around six or seven minutes, wading in a puddle on the extended quayside promenade called the Zattere.

Its behavior was striking, as it waded into deeper sections, probing for nutrient tidbits, to the interest of several children and myself.

I ask this once for indulgence of a seabird which on occasion becomes a temporary wader, and a lovely one, at that.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[Tom Kellie]

I love shorebirding more than any other kind - even pelagic birding. Though I love warbler waves in migration, sussing out sparrows on the wintering grounds, and sorting through flocks of ducks and other waterfowl - being on a mudflat communing with shorebirds is my idea of paradise.

 

Let's post some photos of shorebirds we enjoy around the world.

 

I will start things off with some shots of one of the Red-necked Phalaropes that took refuge from Tropical Storm Anna as it passed offshore on May 9 of this year, at the Yawkey Wildlife Center in coastal South Carolina. This species is seldom seen onshore in eastern North America - birders usually pick them up for their life list on offshore pelagic birding trips.

 

You can see the lobed toes of the phalarope in the second photo. Winds at the time were 30+ knots - making for tricky photography!

 

~ @@offshorebirder

 

This is a wonderful idea! Thank you for starting it.

As YouTube is absolutely unavailable where I live, I wasn't able to view the video.

The bird photos are splendid! Your love of shorebirds comes through with élan!

We'll all add wader photos from wetlands around the globe.

I've started with an unconventional ‘wader upon occasion’ to honor the memory of a bird I once observed, but will thereafter stick to more conventional waders.

I'm looking forward to waders photographed here, there and everywhere!

Tom K.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[Tom Kellie]

Landing Platalea minor

Photographed in the Mudflat Hide of the Hong Kong Wetland Park on 17 January, 2014 at 1:07 pm with an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/5.6L super-telephoto lens.

ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/800 sec., 400mm focal length, handheld Manual shooting mode.

****************************************************************************************************************

This flock of Platalea minor, Black-faced Spoonbill, arrived during extended observation of a several wader species, seen through a portal in the Mudflat Hide of the Hong Kong Wetland Park.

This species is endangered, with a global population generally estimated at around 1,000 or less.

Their graceful flight and pure-white plumage was a powerful testament to the joys of birdwatching, in this case in Hong Kong.

[offshorebirder]

Sorry for any confusion - I meant this thread to be about shorebirds. I suppose it was a mistake to mention "waders". But it is a term I have heard Europeans (especially U.K. Birders) use in place of 'shorebirds' so I threw it in, mistakenly...

 

@@Tom Kellie - nice shot of the Spoonbills coming in for a landing next to the Pied Avocets. In Hong Kong no less!

 

I forgot to include camera specs and settings in my previous post. Canon 7D mkI with a 300 mm f/4 ISI lens. I don't have the ISO, aperture, etc. settings handy at the moment but it was something like f/5.6 or f/6.3 at 800 ISO and bouncing between 1/800 and 1/1000 sec.

[Geoff]

 

I will start things off with some shots of one of the Red-necked Phalaropes that took refuge from Tropical Storm Anna as it passed offshore on May 9 of this year, at the Yawkey Wildlife Center in coastal South Carolina. This species is seldom seen onshore in eastern North America - birders usually pick them up for their life list on offshore pelagic birding trips.

 

@offshorebirder What a lovely looking bird. This species is a rare, yet regular visitor to Australia but I have never seen one.

[Geoff]

Black-fronted Dotterel (Elseyornis melanops)

 

I'll start my contributions to this thread with a common, resident Australian wader. I find this species to be particularly skittish with a large comfort zone. I was actually driving past when I spotted this pair copulating in a paddock. I watched them for another 3 hours all the time trying to figure out how I was going to capture this behaviour. They mated 5 more times during that period and I was very, very fortunate to capture their 5th mating. In the end I used my car as a screen and got extremely lucky predicting where they would next mate. This frame is from a sequence of 43 images that shows their courtship ritual.

 

And a gorgeous chick. (image taken a few years ago)

 

[kittykat23uk]

Lovely shots! Here's one from Botswana, painted snipe

 

Painted snipe by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

Taken with Panasonic FZ18

[kittykat23uk]

And a sanderling closer to home at Twitchwell.

 

Sanderling Stretch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

FZ 18 again.

[Tom Kellie]

Sorry for any confusion - I meant this thread to be about shorebirds. I suppose it was a mistake to mention "waders". But it is a term I have heard Europeans (especially U.K. Birders) use in place of 'shorebirds' so I threw it in, mistakenly...

 

@@Tom Kellie - nice shot of the Spoonbills coming in for a landing next to the Pied Avocets. In Hong Kong no less!

 

I forgot to include camera specs and settings in my previous post. Canon 7D mkI with a 300 mm f/4 ISI lens. I don't have the ISO, aperture, etc. settings handy at the moment but it was something like f/5.6 or f/6.3 at 800 ISO and bouncing between 1/800 and 1/1000 sec.

 

~ @@offshorebirder

 

The forum you've launched is off to a strong start with beautiful images from several Safaritalk members.

If it's indeed shorebirds of all sorts, rather than waders only, then gulls might be appropriate, after all.

Thank you for your kind comment regarding the Spoonbills in Hong Kong. Beautiful birds are present in the most improbable locations.

Hong Kong's Wetland Park and even more so at Maipo are excellent waterbird areas.

Thank you for providing the shooting information, which @@Game Warden has encouraged be used, in order to help others better appreciate wildlife images.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Lovely shots! Here's one from Botswana, painted snipe

 

Painted snipe by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

Taken with Panasonic FZ18

 

~ @@kittykat23uk

 

Your Botswana Painted Snipe image is so real that one feels as if one is another Painted Snipe looking over at a friend.

The perspective is remarkable, due to proximity and low-to-the-ground lens placement.

Most striking is the eye, which has such sharply clear reflection.

I've never seen any snipe in my life, thus greatly enjoy this image.

Thanks so much for posting it.

Tom K.

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks for your kind words @@Tom Kellie how about we visit another continent and see what we find there? Here's a greater thicknee from Chambal river in India.

 

Greater Thicknee by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[Tom Kellie]

Thanks for your kind words @@Tom Kellie how about we visit another continent and see what we find there? Here's a greater thicknee from Chambal river in India.

 

Greater Thicknee by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

~ @@kittykat23uk

 

That's TERRIFIC!

Once again, the camera lens seems to be at ‘bird level’. For my ecology students, that's an ideal image as it brings the viewer into the ecological context of the thick-knee.

You've shared a snipe and a thick-knee, both of which are species known to me through field guide images, but never yet observed on safari.

Perhaps I ought to sign onto your next African or Indian safari as a camera-bearer, as you have the knack for spotting and photographing species of high interest to me.

Tour photos on this new forum opened by @@offshorebirder, as well as @@Geoff's contribution, are making it a lively and most welcome addition to Safaritalk.

This weekend and early next week I'm afloat with several hundred student wildlife essays. When they're graded, I may add a few Asian shorebirds from my archives, but certainly not of the same quality as yours.

Tom K.

[Geoff]

Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus)

 

An endemic Australian wader. They breed on inland salt lakes after rare flooding events and are dispersed widely within Australia whilst not breeding.

For some unknown reason they are becoming more frequently sighted where I live. For me, a bird with breathtaking beauty.

 

 

 

[offshorebirder]

Wonderful stuff, @@Geoff - really superb. The dotterel chick is fantastic.

 

Banded Stilts sure seem closer to Avocets than Stilts...

 

And that is a lovely Painted Snipe image, @kittykatuk23

[Geoff]

Red-Capped Plover

A cute, little shorebird and I believe they are the smallest of the Aussie plovers and closely related to the slightly larger Kentish plover. Their nests (known as a scrape) are just a slight depression in the sand and often close to a piece of driftwood or plant material for added camouflage. The chicks are absolutely gorgeous. Research has found that due to the male's brighter cap they incubate the eggs at night whilst the females incubate during the daylight hours.

 

Male Female

Chick (check out those legs!!)

A typical nest, though three eggs is the norm so I suspect I photographed this nest mid laying

Edited May 23, 2015 by Geoff

[offshorebirder]

Wow @@Geoff - you set the bar pretty high. The Red-capped Plover family history is superb.

 

Here is a Greater Yellowlegs - one of the larger 'Tringa' Sandpipers. It is in drab winter plumage but the legs are as bright as ever.

 

[offshorebirder]

Here is a Black-necked Stilt evaluaing potential nesting areas:

Here is a pair doing the same thing last year:

 

 

A nest from this spring:

A nest from last spring:

Four of the six chicks that a pair of Black-necked Stilts fledged last spring (could not fit 2 of them in the frame):

[offshorebirder]

A fraction of a high tide roost on a sandbar in Bulls Bay, off the north tip of Bulls Island, South Carolina. The flock was primarily composed of Marbled Godwits, with many Short-billed Dowitchers, Red Knots and Dunlin present, with smaller numbers of Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone and others.

[Geoff]

@@offshorebirder Black-necked stilt is an interesting behavioural study. Would six chicks be an unusual sized brood? How many survived. What tern species and also the large bird centre left at the high tide roost?

Edited May 25, 2015 by Geoff

[Geoff]

Double-banded plover (Charadirius bicinctus)

A small migratory plover and unusual in that it has an east - west migration. They breed in New Zealand and over winter in Australia, arriving in my neck of the woods about March and start leaving in August / September.

 

Immature

Non Breeding

Full Breeding plumage

In flight

 

 

[TonyQ]

@@offshorebirder

@@Tom Kellie

@@Geoff

@@kittykat23uk

 

This thread has very soon become the home of some absolutely superb photographs - really stunning. Such high quality, all are a real pleasure to admire.

The legs on the red-capped plover chick are amazing - they look they belong to a different creature.

[Tom Kellie]

@@offshorebirder

@@Tom Kellie

@@Geoff

@@kittykat23uk

 

This thread has very soon become the home of some absolutely superb photographs - really stunning. Such high quality, all are a real pleasure to admire.

The legs on the red-capped plover chick are amazing - they look they belong to a different creature.

 

~ @@TonyQ

 

A thread is born!

Special thanks to @@offshorebirder for launching it.

Your kind encouragement is an inducement to post more images.

Wouldn't it be great if this specialty topic became one of the more active Safaritalk forums?

Thank you for giving us all a most welcome boost!

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Red-Capped Plover

A cute, little shorebird and I believe they are the smallest of the Aussie plovers and closely related to the slightly larger Kentish plover. Their nests (known as a scrape) are just a slight depression in the sand and often close to a piece of driftwood or plant material for added camouflage. The chicks are absolutely gorgeous. Research has found that due to the male's brighter cap they incubate the eggs at night whilst the females incubate during the daylight hours.

A typical nest, though three eggs is the norm so I suspect I photographed this nest mid laying

 

~ @@Geoff

 

These lovely images have made my night so special.

Superb photography, greatly appreciated.

The eggs image is a knockout!

In 61 years I've never yet observed unhatched bird eggs in the wild.

Your image has every quality that I most admire...and more!

Your photographic posts are consistently a master class for me. I really mean that!

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

~ It's a real addition to Safaritalk to have such a lively thread, with high quality shorebird images.

Tom K.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Tom Kellie