Because James Mustafa tells me that the bird issued a single note call it is a Long-billed Dowitcher. It is still there in a big flock of waders but now on the northern end of the lake not the SW corner where found. That area is already dry. 4WD vehicles are not required but it seems as though the lake could be drying fast. Cheers, Mike Carter, 03 9787 7136 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza, VIC 3930, Australia
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Here is another expert opinion on the Dowitcher identification from Andrew Haffenden who lives on Dauphin Is, AL and has studied both LBDO & SBDO birds during migration in that region. He feels the bird seen at the lake is a SBDO for the reasons given below. I was down at Dauphin Is this last weekend and saw just one SBDO which still exhibited some alternate plumage this late in the season. Dean Cutten Victor Harbor, SA Australia (Currently in Madison, AL) Sent: Thursday, 13 November 2014 3:21 AM Dean, I finally found the real photos, which I saved and downloaded, and have attached. I am leaning towards SBDO, for a number of reasons. Although in a couple of the photos the bird seems round, in others it appears sleek, and the belly always appears relatively flat. So in this case I don’t think there’s a unequivocal argument based just on shape. The bill is thick until the very end, whereas LBDO usually narrows to a finer point, and the downturn seems to start, to my eye, towards the end, the last 20% or so, rather than evenly throughout. While the bill is long, I think it falls within female SBDO range. Given the overall color, if this is SBDO, it would be caurinus or hendersoni, and most likely caurinus on plumage. The red color seems richer up front, on the neck, then gets lighter on the breast and belly. This could be a light effect, but it shows in several photos at different angles; LBDO is evenly colored throughout. The red also extends right through to the vent and beyond, whereas LBDO usually becomes white by that time. The white fringing to the greater coverts appears chevron – V – shaped, extending well up the feather, rather than being restricted to the distal end, being almost bar-like interrupted by a narrow projection of the darker center. Though there is a lower white eye-ring, a good feature for LBDO, as with all features there is some variation, and other features point to SBDO. But a combination of body shape in some photos, especially where the bird is leaning forward, the long bill, plus this, would often put the bird in the LBDO camp. Lastly, the bird is still in worn but full breeding plumage. LBDO starts mo(u)lting on the breeding grounds, and is well underway by the time it departs the US for the wintering grounds, Usually the head feathers are molted first, whereas this bird still has an alternate-plumaged head; all coverts and scaps are also unmolted. SBDO usually starts some molting while migrating, mostly some head and body feathers, but is not nearly as far along as LBDO – birds I saw a few days ago still had a lot of alternate plumage – and most of the molt occurs on the southern breeding grounds. This would fit for a lost bird still in breeding plumage – it is still “migrating” and hence not molting. Caurinus winters as far south as Peru, migrating down the west coast, so being blown or misaligning to eastern Australia would be possible – other US shorebirds do so. I may very well end up being wrong on this, but such is birding ID. Feel free to share with your Aussie birder friends. Cheers, Andrew Haffenden
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Well my hearing is really bad, but I have to say I could never see why Short-billed is likened to Lesser Yellowlegs! It is a harsh, gritty sort of sound which better recalls Turnstone. A Lesser Yellowlegs is quite like Greenshank by comparison. Maybe it really is my hearing, but I always thought the “kip” thing for LBD was a good desription by contrast. They sound quite like Sanderling or Red-necked Phalarope. It gets less easy when they are in a group. Mostly single birds sound distinctive, though. On 11/11/2014 9:58 PM, cgregory123 . wrote: — Chris Corben.
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Here is an interesting article on the difficulty of distinguishing between the Long and Short-billed Dowitcher species and a guide on to how to go about it in the field. http://www.surfbirds.com/ID%20Articles/dowitchers1005/dowitchers.html I’ve picked out a couple of points the authors make. “To make matters worse, many birders, including seasoned birders, rely on habitat preference as a “field mark”. Not only is this an useless field mark during migration when both species occur side-by-side and in habitats that they are not “expected” to be in, but it also masks any information regarding local movements of dowitchers between habitats.” “One difference, as pointed out by Putnam (2005), is that Long-billeds molt their primaries during transit whereas Short-billeds wait until they arrive at their wintering grounds to molt their primaries.” “The best field mark for distinguishing the two dowitcher species is voice. Short-billed gives a “call *tututu*, a staccato series of low, musical notes a bit faster than but similar to those of a Lesser Yellowlegs” (Paulson, 1993). Long-billed typically gives a higher pitched *keek* or *peep* call often repeated several to numerous times in rapid succession. The difference in voice is regarded as a nearly fail-proof field mark, and over the course of our studies.” Cheers Chris Gregory On 11 November 2014 09:03, James Mustafa < jamesmustafamusic@gmail.com> wrote:
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Hi all, Here is a link to a couple of photos that took yesterday…. https://www.facebook.com/jamesmustafamusic/media_set?set=a.10204711600768485.1073741839.1190533907&type=1&pnref=story On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 3:49 AM, Joseph Morlan < jmorlan@gmail.com> wrote: — All the best, James Mustafa 0400 951 517 http://www.jamesmustafajazzorchestra.com
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Both species can give a single call note, although it’s more typical of Long-billed. Short-billed has a lower-pitched more mellow call, usually three rapid notes “toodle-doo” especially in flight. However they may also give a single mellow “tu” or “tup” note depending on context, especially while feeding. Long-billed has a higher, squeakier call, “keeek” recalling Sanderling. It may also call in series as “keeek keeek keeek” but with a much longer space between the individual notes cf. Short-billed. Long-billed is much more vocal, frequently keeping up a lot of chatter while foraging. Short-billed is often silent except when disturbed or when flying with a flock. In California, Long-billed prefers fresh water, including inland lakes and flooded fields, but will also use estuaries. Short-billed prefers tidal mudflats. However, there are three different subspecies of Short-billed Dowitcher one of which migrates regularly inland in North America. Short-billed is a much longer distance migrant, regularly reaching southern South America. Long-billed is extremely rare anywhere south of the equator. I am aware of only one specimen from Argentina. I have not yet seen an unambiguous photo of the bird. I have seen this from the a camera back posted on eremaea… http://www.eremaea.com/sightingphotos/22/220773.jpg Interesting bird. Where are the Facebook photos? On Mon, 10 Nov 2014 19:41:27 +1100, “Mike Carter” < pterodroma@bigpond.com> wrote: — Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA “It turns out we’re very good at not seeing things” – Jack Hitt
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