Show us your shorebirds (waders)

[Tom Kellie]

~ This great thread has so many superb images of highest quality.

It may be awhile before I develop enough expertise to appropriately post here.

Tom K.

 

 

Edited May 25, 2015 by Tom Kellie

[offshorebirder]

@@Tom Kellie, I hesitate to constrain your enthusiasm, but I really had in mind for this thread to be about shorebirds, not wading birds (egrets and herons). Thanks much.

[offshorebirder]

@@Geoff - I think six chicks is not an abnormally large brood size for Black-necked Stilts. I am not certain how many chicks of that brood survived until they were capable of flight. I saw all six again 1 week later, but they really stick to tall grass / reeds and so are difficult to observe unless you spend many hours patiently searching and tracking. The parents seemed extremely capable so I like to think they made it to adulthood. Once they are out of the nest and growing for a couple of weeks, their mobility and stamina jump a lot and their odds of survival increase dramatically and flighted status is only a couple of weeks away. Since my time at that location (Yawkey Wildlife Center) is devoted to shorebird surveys, rail surveys and other research efforts, I have limited time to drill down on interesting phenomena outside the focal activity.

 

In terms of the high tide roost: bird at left is Double-crested Cormorant, other large bird is a Brown Pelican. There are a few Laughing Gulls present. Terns are mostly Royal but I also think I see Sandwich and Gull-billed Terns. No Least Terns, Black Skimmers, Caspian, Common, or Black Terns in the photo but they are around at that time of year.

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Kellie, I hesitate to constrain your enthusiasm, but I really had in mind for this thread to be about shorebirds, not wading birds (egrets and herons). Thanks much.

 

~ @@offshorebirder

 

My apologies for careless posting.

The addition of “(waders)” after “Show us your shorebirds” confused me, as I mistakenly supposed that wading birds were waders.

Very sorry! Thank you for pointing out my error.

Tom K.

[offshorebirder]

This is another mixed high tide roost. It is on Marsh Island, a small island in the middle of Bulls Bay, Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge (a Class 1 Wilderness).

. The following shorebird species are present:

Marbled Godwit, Red Knot, Short-billed Dowitcher, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper.

[offshorebirder]

Sanderling feeding on Donax clams.

South Island, South Carolina. November 1, 2014

[offshorebirder]

Purple Sandpiper at low tide, feeding on an algae and barnacle-covered rock jetty.

Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina. Christmas Day, 2013.

[offshorebirder]

Here are a couple of Wilson's Snipe from freshwater wetlands in coastal South Carolina:

[offshorebirder]

Pardon the image quality on this one - it was taken out of a kitchen window late on a cloudy winter day.

This American Woodcock followed their age-old strategy of heading for the warmer micro-climate along the coast, during snow and ice storms.

Edited May 25, 2015 by offshorebirder

[offshorebirder]

Pectoral Sandpipers, a dapper member of the "grasspiper" group. I like their finely streaked waistcoats.

A flock of Pectoral Sandpipers in flight at a turf farm in central South Carolina.

Grasspipers (Pectoral, Buff-breasted and Upland Sandpipers) love the expanses of short grass on such farms.

[offshorebirder]

Piping Plover (an endangered species) on the beach at the south end of Kiawah Island beside Captain Sam's Inlet, South Carolina.

It is "patter feeding" where the birds tap their foot at high speeds to startle prey, which they grab and consume. Other plover species also use this foraging technique.

[theplainswanderer]

Brisbane, Australia 2014

Canon EOS 7 D

Canon 300 F/2.8 IS USM 11

x 2 converter

 

 

Red-necked Avocets

 

One of Australia's resident shorebirds is the spectacular Red-necked Avocet and one of my favourite birds ... heres a few shots from my collection.

 

David Taylor

[Geoff]

@@offshorebirder Your last series of posts showing species like Pec Sandpipers & Sanderling in plumage stages that i rarely see were very interesting and instructional for me.

[Geoff]

@@theplainswanderer G'day Dave, i was wondering if/when you were going to join this thread.

[theplainswanderer]

Hi Geoff - look forward to posting a few bits and pieces!

 

All on track for your trip?

 

cheers

 

David T

[offshorebirder]

@@Geoff - the first Pectoral Sandpiper photo was early in spring migration (April 19 2015) and the second and third photos were in early November a couple of years ago.

 

@@theplainswanderer - smashing stuff! GORGEOUS Red-necked Avocets. Were you shooting from a hide to get so close to them?

[Tom Kellie]

Brisbane, Australia 2014

Canon EOS 7 D

Canon 300 F/2.8 IS USM 11

x 2 converter

 

Red-necked Avocets

 

One of Australia's resident shorebirds is the spectacular Red-necked Avocet and one of my favourite birds ... heres a few shots from my collection.

 

~ @@theplainswanderer

 

Beautiful.

Simply lovely.

Many Thanks!

Tom K.

[offshorebirder]

This Least Sandpiper is well into alternate plumage (May 2):

This one is in drab basic plumage (November 10):

Edited May 26, 2015 by offshorebirder

[Geoff]

Hooded Plover (Thinornis rubricollis)

This endemic Aussie plover is considered vulnerable. I've had the pleasure of working with this species as a volunteer on Birdlife Australia's Beach Nesting Bird project and monitor the remaining 30 odd birds within 50 kilometres of coastline near my home. I have come to know them extremely well, both on an individual & species level.

Adult

In flight

Chick (recently hatched. The parent birds have removed the egg shell from the scrape)

Chick (2 days old)

Chicks hiding amongst beach wrack

Chick Portrait (33 days old, they fledge at around 35 days)

Typical nest

[Tom Kellie]

 

Hooded Plover (Thinornis rubricollis)

This endemic Aussie plover is considered vulnerable. I've had the pleasure of working with this species as a volunteer on Birdlife Australia's Beach Nesting Bird project and monitor the remaining 30 odd birds within 50 kilometres of coastline near my home. I have come to know them extremely well, both on an individual & species level.

 

~ @@Geoff

 

Very, very nice.

I like the small sun-bleached shells around the speckled eggs.

Tom K.

[Game Warden]

@Tom Kellie, I hesitate to constrain your enthusiasm, but I really had in mind for this thread to be about shorebirds, not wading birds (egrets and herons). Thanks much.

 

 

@@offshorebirder Let us not forget that with ST reaching a wide audience around the world, not everyone's first language is English and that some may misconstrue the meaning of your title. Especially if they are interested in bird watching but not necessarily birders. So for someone posting on ST who's first language isn't English, may not have known the difference.

 

Matt

[offshorebirder]

 

@Tom Kellie, I hesitate to constrain your enthusiasm, but I really had in mind for this thread to be about shorebirds, not wading birds (egrets and herons). Thanks much.

 

 

@@offshorebirder Let us not forget that with ST reaching a wide audience around the world, not everyone's first language is English and that some may misconstrue the meaning of your title. Especially if they are interested in bird watching but not necessarily birders. So for someone posting on ST who's first language isn't English, may not have known the difference.

 

Matt

 

 

@@Game Warden - I understand that. Which is why I posted the following back on page 1 of this thread to try and avoid further confusion:

 

"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..."

[offshorebirder]

Since @@Geoff expressed an interest in plumage stages he rarely sees, here are some shots of first-spring immature American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica). Adults would have been much farther into their striking black-on-gold finery that late in the spring.

This shows a Golden-Plover detecting, then extracting, then preparing to consume a Polychaete worm:

 

This one is a head-on view of a Golden-Plover intensely focusing on finding a worm:

These two convey the dainty, almost delicate nature of Golden-Plovers (as a consequence they are often bullied by Black-bellied Plovers):

 

Edited May 26, 2015 by offshorebirder

[offshorebirder]

It seems like White-rumped Sandpipers are hard to get close enough to for good photography. Why are my best shorebird encounters always on rainy days?

 

Here is a White-rumped Sandpiper in mid-May:

 

[Geoff]

@@offshorebirder Thanks and excellent behavioural series as well. American Golden plovers are a rare bird in Australia but occasionally one will be found amongst the Pacific Golden plover flocks.