Hi Tom et al.,
Sorry for not posting this earlier. I was a bit hesitant because of the debate about Long Reef a few weeks ago.
When Raja and I were at Long Reef March 6 there were two Wandering Tattlers always together: 1 really typical non-breeding bird (the one discussed by Mark et al.) and another one which was still typical but not that striking (I believe it was the same two birds that Tun Pin posted a picture of a few weeks ago). Also February 27, I saw two candidates for Wandering Tattler – albeit a bit too far away to be certain about the not-so-striking one… Tom, did you see another candidate for Wandering Tattler today? Sanderling: “pale about the shoulders” – Did it show that typical blackish carpal area?
Cheers,
Nikolas
Sunday, March 6 (“last week” = Sunday, February 27)
5ish Australasian Gannets all 4 cormorant species 2 Australian Pelicans 3 White-faced Herons approx. 10 Sooty Oystercatchers (last week 9) only 4 Pacific Golden Plovers (last week 15+) still 1 Double-banded Plover 2 Masked Lapwings at least 6 Grey-tailed Tattlers [last week, I saw a total of 10 tattlers, most likely 8 GTT + 2 WT] still 2 Wandering Tattlers approx. 10 Ruddy Turnstones (last week 20+) approx. 50 Red-necked Stint (last week 150+) 2 Arctic Jaegers chasing Crested Terns (one pale adult, one dark second year bird) plus some of the usual land birds
1 Swamp Rat 1 Common Bluetongue
Nikolas (and birding-aus) On the Tattlers, I presume you refer to the bird on the left of the pair photographed by Tun Ping Ong 3 weeks ago that was posted to Eremaea (http://www.eremaea.com/sightingphotos/1/16679.jpg)? There was another paler looking bird, which may have been a possible Wandering in the same area as the definite (ie very grey) Wandering Tattler which had a pale lower mandible and more white about the head/neck, like the picture. I saw that one first but thought it was probably a Grey Tailed, and got onto the darker bird a few minutes later as it was juggling a crab in an open pool and didn’t look for the first bird again.
As for the possible Sanderling, it looked like there was some darker smudging in the carpal area when it was at rest, but I never managed to get the bird feeding/resting with the sun behind me to have a good look at the finer details. (I was slowly working my way round into the right position when the paraglider spooked them.) My attention was primarily caught by the size, then the paleness about the head and shoulders and the absence of the scalloping/feather definition that the Stints showed. The flight views I got were when it headed for the rocks and disappeared.
Cheers Tom Wilson