Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Returning Shorebirds

This post is for Wild Bird Wednesday.

I went over to Norman Point a week ago.  There was a small group of mainly Bar-tailed Godwits roosting in the curve of the bay just south of the point.  Instead of just resting and sleeping as they usually do most of the birds were preening.

As the tide went out and there was more soft sand exposed some of the birds started feeding.  The bird which is preening (on the right of this photo) has quite a lot of reddish breeding plumage left.  I am told that birds which have failed to breed return from the northern hemisphere before the other birds.  I have not been out to check the roosts this week but up to the end of last week the big flocks of birds had not yet returned from the north.

In among the Godwits was one very much smaller bird. Although I have frequently seen groups of small birds roosting quite happily almost under the legs of Godwits, this bird kept moving as soon as a Godwit came anywhere near.  Maybe it was uncomfortable because it was alone. The red down its front made ID easy.  It was a Red Knot still with a little breeding color.

The back and sides of the bird showed pale colored new feathers. Non-breeding plumage is much paler.

Even this Red Knot stopped and preened every once in a while.

The white blotches in the foreground of some of the photos were Gull-billed Terns which were closer to me than the shorebirds. The black cap is full breeding plumage but in non-breeding plumage most of the black is lost and they are left with just a black patch around the eye.


30 comments:

  1. Great series of the beautiful shorebirds! /Susanne

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  2. Lovely photos. Really like the Gull billed terns

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  3. Beautiful series of shorebirds!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  4. I have so much to learn -- didn't know that behavior was called 'preening' -- although it should be obvious. Your shorebirds are great -- I kind of feel sorry for the lonesome red knot though.

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  5. the little red knot is really cute.

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  6. Great collection of birds. The Godwits, Redknot and the Terns are all beautiful sightings and photos.

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  7. my favourite shots is the second one and the last one. I love the posture of the Godwit and the terns.

    nfbird.blogspot.com

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  8. Great series of shots, Mick. I especially like the reflections in that last one. Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog. Happy shooting!

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  9. An excellent post on the shorebirds Mick. Thanks for the information on the Red Knot. I find it sometimes perplexing looking at shorebirds in their alternating plumages.

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  10. Very nice captures of these lovely shorebirds.

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  11. A wonderful series Mick!
    Hope the Red Knot sooner or later found some of his own to hang out with.

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  12. Good to see the Knot in that sort of plumage Mick. Here I only ever seem to see them in winter plumage.

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  13. Beautiful sereie pictures you show :)
    Hanne Bente

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  14. Hi there - thanks for the visit to WBW - I was surprised by how much different the colour was between a "natural light" picture and the one with the torch - but even more surprising was that I was able to get any pictures at all - it really was very gloomy!

    Cheers - and a nice set of pictures - Stewart M - Melbourne.

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  15. Nice photos of all of the birds!
    We also have a sort of gull with black head in the Summertime, but it's not the same as this cute little ones here.
    Greetings Pia in Sweden

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  16. It is difficult to take the 'preening' shots as many times my preening birds end up 'headless'. What a great job you did capturing this daily ritual.

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  17. Wonderful shots of birds. They are all the time busy.

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  18. Your bird photos today are so clear, delightful to view them.

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  19. Beautiful shore birds and reflections.

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  20. Handsome birds, kind of cute in their fluffy feathers!

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  21. Hope the waders can wait until we come back from down south. Great photos of the Red Knot.

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  22. Lovely collection of shots. Have to admit I found the shots to be very restorative and relaxing. Some give me the since of family while the reflections are an added bonus.

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  23. Love the perspective in these. Wonderful photos!

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  24. Womderful shots of the Bar-tailed Godwits.
    There have been quite a lot of these down on the Wynnum foreshore for most of the winter. I assume they were juveniles?
    I love those Gull Billed Terns. I saw some out at Lake Wivenhoe last week. I knew they were Terns but I hadn't seen black billed ones so I wasn't sure of the ID (thanks for that).

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  25. I'm happy to know those area woodwits...I have a few photos of these, and never could id them.

    Beautiful images.

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  26. ...by the way, I'm here now from viewing my comments on my bird photo blog and wanted to once again thank you for your commenting there also.

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  27. Ah migration time. Fun for us all. Love your ocean shots with these beautiful birds.

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  28. Gorgeous shots, Mick! The blue water is a beautiful background.

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