Overwintering
By nagrompr, on June 30th, 2014
There has been some discussion of “overwintering” birds. Just throwing this in. Here at Brooms Head, we seem to have lost the Bar-tailed Godwit that has been around for the last couple of winters, but gained a couple of Golden Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones. They have not moved in to breeding plumage. Peter and Bev Morgan. The conservation battle is never finally won; the development battle is. _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
For the record, I’ve seen Marshies several times in winter at Lake McLarty (e.g. 7 in July 2010), albeit the lake usually fills so they usually don’t stay all winter – on one occasion they were recorded for an extended period, though unsure exactly how long they were recorded Cheers John Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Many but by no means all waders/shorebirds stay in their normal winter quarters during their first year. Just off the top of my head I can think of eight species that don’t. I’ve never heard of a mid-winter record of Swinhoe’s, Pin-tailed or Latham’s Snipe for instance. As we all know, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are normally absent in winter apart from injured or sick individuals. Pectoral Sandpipers normally leave much later than Sharpies but do not normally overwinter although the population is small. Danny Rogers once told me that he could not find a single Australian winter record of Common Sandpiper. I have never seen a Marsh Sandpiper and only once a Wood Sandpiper in winter. What do these eight species have in common? They have a preference for, or will readily use, fresh water habitats. The latter criterion also applies to Red-necked Stints which normally overwinter but there is an interesting association of species in that category. Mike Carter 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Tel (03) 9787 7136 —– Original Message —– < birding-aus@birding-aus.org> Sent: Monday, June 30, 2014 10:13 PM _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Thanks Martin We haven’t noticed any Plovers or Turnstone staying on before. We could have missed them. But if they are young staying over then just a couple is a relatively small number of the mob we usually have. Cheers Peter Morgan The conservation battle is never finally won; the development battle is. _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
hi Peter, I would have thought that these Golden Plovers & Turnstones that u have there are quite likely 1st year birds that haven’t returned to their breeding grounds in their 1st year. Given that they haven’t attained the breeding plumage of adult birds tends to supports that they are juv/imm birds. I maybe wrong here, but I’ve always thought that most (or is it all??) 1st year migratory waders spend their first northern summer in their southern wintering grounds… or is it that some adult birds that aren’t fit for breeding also stay in their non-breeding grounds along with the 1st year birds as well?? cheers martin cachard cairns 0428 782 808 _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org