I was delighted to find a huge number of birds all roosting on the Point at Inskip yesterday morning. When I go out with my camera I do not try to count. I cannot do both! I can only estimate that there were well over a thousand birds and there could well have been double that number. Most of the flock were Bar-tailed Godwits. They were strung out along the water line and then packed in solidly behind that. Many of the birds were standing out in the shallow water and as the tide came in and the water got deeper there was constant movement.
It was very interesting to see good numbers of juvenile birds. Their plumage is quite distinctive but they only keep it for a short time after they arrive out here in Australia. The bird on the right of the photo is a juvenile.
I think one of the prettiest parts of the Godwits' plumage is the under-wing patterns.
When I first started looking at the flock of birds I thought there were only Godwits. However, after a while I saw that there were numbers of small birds standing right under the legs of the larger Godwits. Unless they were at the front of the flock they were almost hidden. The smaller of the birds are Curlew Sandpipers and the slightly larger ones are Great knots.
In many places these smaller birds were packed in so tightly it was impossible to count individual heads.
18 comments:
great shots! wonderful silver :)
Great post!! Interesting to see so many variations in one area. I've noticed that also. I think we assume a flock is one type but in reality the birds are drawn by food and is therefore composed of many types. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Wonderful birds to see Mick your images are lovely to view.
So wonderful to see those large flocks of godwits -- they are such an elegant shorebird!
I love large wader flock photos such as these. You never know what might be hiding within.
that´s a lot of birds. They actually look good in a group like that.
A wonderful sight Mick. Funny how the eye settles slowly on a scene and picks up more and more detail. A good lesson in patient watching. I always wonder what I have missed, the good stuff generally isn't so obvious is it?
Wow, amazing numbers. Wonderful shots, I love the first one. The Godwits are beautiful!
Love seeing all these pretty ones ... great photos!
Great shots! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post and some others below it.
It makes me want to get out of Brisbane city to capture more wildlife!!
Any suggestions??
Hi there - great pictures.
Keep an eye open for Godwits (and others) with orange leg flags - some of which may have visible letters on them. If you see any it would be great if you could note down the details and let me know - I can them pass on the details to our banding group.
There is a post on my other blog called "Long Distance Travel" (26th Feb this year) about banding Godwit down in Victoria - think you may be interested!
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
Wonderful shots! These are beautiful birds.
oooohhhh what pretty pictures, the silver is magical!!
I always wonder how biologists or wildlife people count birds when they pack in like this.
Beautiful pictures. I love your header shot too, if I haven't already told you this -- sometimes I forget I'm supposed to scroll down and read.
Great photos and iso. You're right about their under-wing feather patterns.
Love the soft tones to these photos. Very pretty.
They sure are social birds, aren't they?
Great photos! it's amazing how many different types are hiding among each other - and they do look similar.
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