This afternoon I made a quick drop-in to Manly Boat Harbour (that’s the Brisbane version of Manly, not Sydney). While walking on the coastal side I unexpectedly flushed half a dozen tattlers and a turnstone from the rock wall. I thought little of it at the time, except that that was a little unusual for Grey-taileds to be taking up residence there. Shortly after, I was scanning the ponds and immediately picked out a very dark tattler mingling with the Grey-taileds. It was a Wandering Tattler – a bird I’ve had plenty of experience with around rocky coastal headlands locally, but never in this environment. I wouldn’t have thought twice about the ID if not for the very atypical location, but the extremely dark overall cast combined with the pale lores and eye-ring (not extending past the eye) and slightly larger, heavier appearance all checked out. Wandering and Grey-tailed Tattlers of course usually use quite different habitat, so I’d be interested to hear from anyone who may h ave encountered the former away from the usual rocky shores.
Many waders have clearly left the area on migration since my last visit here in January. Good additional birds were two Grey Plovers, at least three returned Double-banded Plovers, a Large Sand-Plover in pretty much complete breeding nick, and a bird which I initially thought may have been a Reeve – I could just see a tiny head on a Sharpie-sized body sticking up from some grass at one point! Unfortunately, I couldn’t definitely relocate the bird after it flew to one of the centre islands. I’m still a bit befuddled by it, to be honest, so might head back for another look. If anyone else is heading that way, keep your eyes peeled.
Cheers
Andrew ===============================
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In California, Wanderers live in places similar to where they live in Australia – typically rocky headland situations. There are no Grey-taileds there.
In Fiji, as I recall it, there are also no Grey-taileds, but Wanderers can be found feeding on mudflats looking very much like where you’d get a Grey-tailed in Australia.
Cheers, Chris
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Hi Paul and all
My description of the Wandering Tattler was actually poorly worded and needs clarification. I made reference to the “pale lores and eye ring”; of course the lores of both Wandering and Grey-tailed Tattler are dark (as was the case here). The supercilium (eyebrow) of both is pale; however, in Wandering Tattlers (and specifically this bird) this doesn’t extend past the eye. This Wandering Tattler was very dark indeed, especially across the breast feathers, and stood out from the crowd even in flight.
And Paul, you’re right. I think what happened here was the Wanderer was initially on the rock wall on the seaward side – far from unusual, and like you’ve I’ve seen them at Redcliffe in this scenario – but I’ve never seen one at this location, and not usually together with Grey-taileds. Anyway, I did overlook them as I was walking, and when I flushed them they all flew around back to the ponds – in a Wanderer’s case, I’d normally expect it to just fly further along the rocks, but I guess it got caught up with its congeners.
If you’re going back, look out for that possible Reeve!
Cheers, Andrew ===============================
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