Show us your shorebirds (waders)

[Geoff]

Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)

A medium sized shorebird with a short stout bill. In Australia it is found in small flocks on intertidal mudflats around the coast. They breed in the high arctic tundra.

 

My images are of birds in non-breeding plumage.

[TonyQ]

Your photographs in this thread are superb

@@Geoff (love the lapwing)

@@theplainswanderer (avocet with reflections being a real favourite)

 

@offshorebirder -You consistently provide us with excellent images

[theplainswanderer]

Bar-tailed Godwits

Toorbul, Queensland, Australia

Canon EOS 7D or 7D mark 2 with 300 F/2.8 or 100-400 11 with converters

 

The most common shorebird seen in South-east Queensland

 

 

 

[theplainswanderer]

Red-necked Stint

Manly Yacht Harbor roost

manly, Brisbane

 

7D and F/2.8 300mm Canon

 

 

[theplainswanderer]

Red-necked Stint

Manly Yacht Harbor roost

manly, Brisbane

 

I love the bill on these two red-necked Stints images i took - looks like military black boot polish shine standard!!

[Zubbie15]

Continuing on with some photos from Elkhorn Slough, just a couple of Egrets.

Finishing a meal...

And an image just to give an idea of the concentration of wildlife in the area:

[Geoff]

A couple of recently processed images...

 

The beautiful Red-necked Avocet (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae) these two birds spent a brief time on a drying saline pond on my patch late last year.

A sub-adult Hooded Plover (Thinornis rubricollis) This image was taken on the Australian Winter solstice 2015. With the late afternoon sun low in the north-western sky the water on this saline lake turned a green-black. I'm used to seeing this species on ocean beaches so it was a surreal moment.

The difficult thing in post processing was getting some separation between the black bill tip and the black water (I'm not sure I succeeded).

[theplainswanderer]

Superb Geoff - love the dark BG on the plover shot! Cheers David T

Edited February 5, 2016 by theplainswanderer

[Peter Connan]

Those are both stunning @@Geoff.

 

Anything more would probably look very unnatural.

[theplainswanderer]

Pied Oystercatchers frequent beaches around the Australian coastline - these shots taken at Toorbul and Wynnum in Queensland with Canon EOS 7D mark 2 and 100-400 Mark 2 with 1.4 converter

 

Cheers

 

David Taylor

 

[Geoff]

@@theplainswanderer Dave, what's going on in the last image? Is that a Pied Oik courtship display or territorial dispute? or something else?

[theplainswanderer]

@@theplainswanderer Dave, what's going on in the last image? Is that a Pied Oik courtship display or territorial dispute? or something else?

Hi Geoff - territorial dispute that one - they were working as a team driving off another Pied Oystercatcher - they are a fiesty species and often spar with each other though appears its all huff and puff but not so much physical contact from what ive seen cheers David T

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@Geoff

 

As my father has often said, “That's about as good as it gets”.

Utterly lovely composition.

Thank you for posting it.

Tom K.

[theplainswanderer]

A couple of recently processed images...

 

The beautiful Red-necked Avocet (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae) these two birds spent a brief time on a drying saline pond on my patch late last year.

#148_Geoff_Gates_5728.jpg

A sub-adult Hooded Plover (Thinornis rubricollis) This image was taken on the Australian Winter solstice 2015. With the late afternoon sun low in the north-western sky the water on this saline lake turned a green-black. I'm used to seeing this species on ocean beaches so it was a surreal moment.

The difficult thing in post processing was getting some separation between the black bill tip and the black water (I'm not sure I succeeded).

#138-Freshwater-lake_GG_2208-2.jpg

Only ever seen one once Geoff let alone photograph one! Hooded Plover that is !!

Edited February 9, 2016 by theplainswanderer

[offshorebirder]

More great photos @@Geoff and @@theplainswanderer - really superb.

 

Here is a Senegal Lapwing I recently photographed in Mara Naboisho conservancy in Kenya:

 

And here is a Temminck's Courser - also photographed in Mara Naboisho:

 

And here is a Wood Sandpiper, also photographed in Mara Naboisho Conservancy:

 

And here is a Three-banded Plover - also in Mara Naboisho Conservancy:

 

 

 

More Kenyan shorebird photos to come soon!

Edited February 12, 2016 by offshorebirder

[Geoff]

@@offshorebirder Well done Nathan. I've not seen a Senegal Lapwing before and what a lovely looking creature it is.

[theplainswanderer]

Some lovely shots there Nathan - we only see one of those 4 species in Australia and that's the Wood Sandpiper in small numbers. The Courser is a great looking bird.

 

Thanks for sharing David T

[TonyQ]

I love the photos in this thread.

However, as a non-birder I don't really understand what shorebirds are. Could you explain to an ignorant non ornithologist please?

[Peter Connan]

@@TonyQ, google reckons a shorebird is any bird that spends it's time close to the shoreline.

 

Things like Sandpipers, Plovers and most Lapwings for example?

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@Peter Connan and @@TonyQ

 

I'm ultra-hesitant to post any images in this topic as I'm so uncertain as to what is...or is not...a generally acceptable and agreed-on “shorebird”.

There may well be consensus within the birding community which hasn't reached casual amateurs like yours truly.

That tends to nudge me toward other bird-related topics to leave this one to the experts who know best.

Were this a question in one of my graduate classes I might encourage a fairly loose interpretation in order to stimulate participation.

Thank you, @@Peter Connan, for the helpful listing above. (Google isn't available where I live)

Tom K.

[wilddog]

I believe @@offshorebirder tried to clarify his use of the term 'shore birds' in one of his earlier posts. Post 5 I think.

[Peter Connan]

What it must be to have a working memory! Thanks @@wilddog.

 

I guess then from that that it is birds that spend their time close to the shoreline ON LAND, rather than in the water?

[wilddog]

@@Peter Connan No expert..me but I would guess you might be right.

 

@@offshorebirder adds further comment in post 27.

 

As a moderator I tend to read a lot of posts but do not necessarily comment as much as others.

[TonyQ]

@@wilddog

Thank you for remembering those posts.

I confess to not being clear on the difference between a wader and a shore-bird, but it does help to clarify a bit!

[wilddog]

Clear as mud @@TonyQ ?

 

Perhaps @@offshorebirder will clarify further when he has time...............