Sunday, September 12, 2010

Returning Migrants

When I went out to Inskip Point last Thursday morning there were still no large flocks of returning migrant shorebirds. However, there were small numbers of shorebirds that would definitely be interesting to photograph. The birds were having a hard time. First there were fishermen very close in to the sand island and all the birds flew up in alarm from there. Some of them came in and roosted on the end of the point where the traffic drives out to take the car ferry to Fraser island. However, once again they were sent flying by a tourist vehicle that decided it wanted to stop right in among the roosting birds! This was the result! All photos enlarge when clicked on. Some of the birds eventually settled down again on the sand. Most were Crested Terns but sheltering in behind them was a small flock of mixed shorebirds that I decided would definitely be interesting to photograph.I first sorted out which were Bar-tailed Godwits and tried to see if there were any still showing signs of breeding plumage - which would definitely indicate they were returning migrants. Even the Godwits present some challenges for ID when there is often a huge difference in size between the large females and the much smaller males. The females also have a much longer bill than the males.The next birds that caught my eye were Plovers still in almost full breeding plumage. I focused in on them and tried to get good photos for ID. At first I thought I was looking at Pacific Golden Plovers - which are the most common of the Plovers around here. However, these ones did not have any hint of gold about the plumage and the edges of the feathers were white tipped instead of cream/buff. Also they looked considerably bigger standing next to the Godwits. I realized these were Grey Plovers (Pluvialis squatarola). We never see Grey Plovers further up the bay.
There were still smaller birds to ID and these looked like Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris). However, looking closer I also saw a Red Knot (Calidris canutus). This bird is easy to ID when it has some of the red breeding color still showing! Also it is a slightly smaller bird and its bill is shorter. One of the Great Knot had flags on its right leg and a metal band on its left. I have sent off details of this bird and hope to hear back eventually just where it was flagged and banded.For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

13 comments:

  1. it´s not fair. They are now at your end of the world. I barely had time to see them when they were here. They are too far off from where I live. :)

    ... and the Red-necked Stint don´t come to us :(

    So first year bird should equal 1k then. Thanks!

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  2. I'm very envious of these birds, sounds like the point is great for shorebirds, just a pity about them being disturbed so easily.

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  3. Hi NatureFootstep, it's very interesting hearing about which shorebirds appear in different places. Remember I've had months of reading about all the interesting birds all you northern hemisphere birders have been seeing over your summer!!

    Hi Mark, Inskip Point has an amazing number and diversity of shorebirds - that is if the many tourists just let them stay for a while :-(

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  4. Obviously you have the same troubles as we do here with people continuously disturbing birds that need to feed and/or roost. A great selection of waders there Mick and some interseting observations about the godwits especially. I hope you get some information on the marked Great Knot - the person that ringed it will be so pleased. Phil

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  5. Hi Phil, I guess careless people are the same all over the world :-( I will add to this post when I hear back about the flagged and ringed bird. I appreciate the work that people (like yourself) do in ringing birds so that we can learn more about where they go and when.

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  6. Now that the weather is warming up, will have to try and camp at Inskip for a couple of days so we can see some of the beautiful birds that are there.

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  7. Hi Neil, hope you get out there soon while the migratory birds are still coming south! Even a day trip would be good!!

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  8. Great shore bird photos Mick! Thanks for always sharing your work on Bird Photography Weekly.

    If you are interested in widening your blog appearance so you can show larger photos, let me know. I too use the blogger template...I've just learned some tricks to customize it over the last couple of years. You can e-mail me at robertmortensen at cableone dot net.

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  9. Thanks Robert - it does seem a waste to have all that space on both sides!

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  10. Wow, Mick, you already have a lot there! At the place we went to last Friday, I only saw one (!) Asian Golden Plover and it was in transition plumage already. Hopefully we'll got more soon.

    Great photos, by the way. :)

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  11. Hi Bob, it's nice that you are able to see some returning shorebirds up your way too. I'm sure that there will be birds up there that we don't see down here at all. I wonder which is the Asian Golden Plover that you saw? It's confusing that there are several different names for the same bird.

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  12. Good to spot bands. Hope you've got info back. I've never had much feedback on the few banded birds seen in Tyto.

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  13. Hi Tony, re the flags/bands - I have general info to date - black flag over a white flag has been flagged somewhere in China. Don't know if I will get any closer than that. If I do I will post it.

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