This is the roost before dawn, lit by the security lights.
There's a video here. See how many birds you can id!I can see Marsh Sandpipers and a sand plover, and hear Terek Sandpipers ("wi-di-di"), Common Redshanks (single downward-inflected "tew") and Savanna Nightjar (regular 'chwizz') with some Black-crowned Night-heron calls in the background (a duck-like "kwak").
Simon's White-faced Whimbrel was around again today, and I got some better pics of it.
And some more normal ones!
At last I got a nice comparison shot of Black-tailed (front) and Bar-tailed Godwit (right rear) in non-breeding plumage. Apart from the difference in size, leg length and upperpart colour and pattern, this picture shows the difference in supercilium pattern well.
And this one the difference in underwing pattern and flight profile.
A Bar-tail against a threatening sky.
And a flock with a Whimbrel.
A better shot of Marsh Sandpipers in flight than I got yesterday.
Common Redshank (left) and Terek Sandpiper (right) showing the difference in upperwing pattern and leg length.
Two Red Knots and a Great Knot behind. The left hand Red Knot is surely of the 'piersmai' race. The right hand one could be 'rogersi', but equally, could be a female or later moulting 'piersmai', as far as I can tell! Can anyone shed further light?
A couple of Grey Plover portraits.
A couple of Lesser Sand Plovers, showing a)how long and sharp the bill can be on 'schaeferi' birds and b)that sand plovers can sometimes show quite a prominent pale collar when in worn (in this case, 1st summer) plumage.
A plover with a mostly white head would normally get one thinking about Oriental Plover at this time of year! However, this one, with its pink, black-tipped bill, clearly isn't! It's a leucistic Lesser Sand Plover.
What amazed me was that I only 'saw' this bird during my fourth visit to the roost in two days (even though it was right in front of me yesterday - did you spot it in this photo?). Could I have missed a Spoon-billed Sandpiper? Absolutely!
In 2008/9 we had a sandy-coloured Lesser Sand Plover (here) and a mostly white Common Redshank (here). Leucistic or albino birds usually don't last long in the wild, where it's definitely not an advantage to stand out from the crowd! I wonder whether we'll see this one again. The bill is interesting!
There's a video of the bird here.
More stints! Here's a bird showing quite obvious chestnut fringes to the longest two tertials. So - is it a Little? While Little Stints in breeding plumage do have chestnut fringes to the tertials, Red-necked can frequently show chestnut fringes to these feathers as well, and even to some inner greater coverts. Chestnut fringes to the outer greater coverts, and to the median and lessers is diagnostic of Little (cf Red-necked). What can be seen of the inner greater coverts on this bird reveals rather inconclusive greyish fringes. Structurally, the long body, large squarish head and short, straight bill all favour Red-necked (which is what it is).
What about this one? In addition to the tertials and inner greater coverts showing chestnut fringes, the visible median and lesser coverts are also chestnut-fringed, so this is the Real McCoy!
And this? The colder, darker tones should tell you that it's neither Red-necked nor Little, nor even a stint, but a Broad-billed Sandpiper!
A nice comparison of plumage and structure.
I could only find two Little Stints today.
A few shots showing the difference in bill structure: Little's bill is less deep-based, thinner and finer-tipped than Red-necked's.
A couple more shots of the duller bird.
And the brighter one, showing all you need to make a positive id!
A couple of clips, showing each bird, here and here.
Two Painted Storks put in an appearance from time to time. This was the brighter of the two birds. These are assumed to be dispersants from the full-winged feral colony which has spread outward from Zoo Negara in KL.
