4th April 2011 (pm): Kapar - godwits and dowitcher

I've finally waded (!) through over 1500 shots taken during the afternoon tide, and, since there's no way to put the best of those into one post, I'll divide them up into similar species posts, starting with the godwits and co. Numbers of both Bar-tailed and Black-tailed were well down on my March totals , just 600 of the former and 500 of the latter.





Summer plumaged Bar-tailed (above) and Black-tailed (below). People get confused between these two species, but they are really quite different from each other, structurally, in flight, and in all plumages, as I hope to show. In breeding plumage, Bar-tailed has chestnut which extends all the way to the vent, while on Black-tailed, this colour is replaced by black bars from the breast down. Note also the different bill shapes - tapered and upcurved in Bar-tailed and blob-tipped and straight (or even slightly 'drooped') in Black-tailed.



A Black-tailed with a couple of Bar-tailed behind. In all plumages, Bar-tailed has pale buff wing coverts with darker shaft streaks, a pattern reminiscent of Eurasian Curlew's, whereas Black-tailed coverts are relatively plain dark grey-brown (not very visible in this shot). The difference in bill shape is obvious here. Black-tailed bill is pink basally in non-breeding plumage, but turns orangey in breeding plumage.



Bar-tailed is substantially larger and longer billed than Black-tailed in East Asia. The races here are 'menzbieri' (Bar-tailed) and 'melanuroides' (Black-tailed). In this pic you can just about see that Black-tailed is markedly longer-legged than Bar-tailed.





A couple of pictures to sharpen your skills. One has a lone Black-tailed in among the Bar-tailed; the other has two Bar-tailed among many Black-tailed. I'm sure you can figure it out!



In flight, the differences are even more obvious. For a start, the different leg lengths give the two species very different shapes. Black-tailed looks like a flying cross, with the long leg projection behind the wings. Bar-tailed, on the other hand, looks front-heavy, with very little toe projection beyond the tail. So you should be able to see 1 Bar-tailed and 3 Black-tailed in the photo above.



In flight from above, Black-tailed is one of the most striking of all waders, with the broad white wingbar and black and white banded tail. Bar-tailed is relatively plain above, with just a white wedge running up the back. Note that the Bar-tailed in this pic doesn't have much of a barred tail, but that's another story!



From below, they are just as different. Bar-tailed has a finely barred underwing, which looks an unremarkable grey at a distance.






















Black-tailed has a clear pearly-white underwing framed by a dark leading and trailing edge to the wing - quite different!

Now that we have the differences sorted, here are a few more shots of Bar-tailed.



Breeding plumaged birds have less pink on the bill than non-breeders, and in some well-marked birds (males?) the bill turns almost completely dark (see the rear bird). So a godwit-like bird with an all dark bill at this time of year is not necessarily a dowitcher!



Non-breeding plumaged Bar-tails, looking typically 'pale and streaky'!



One reason why Bar-tailed Godwits' bills look so tapered is that the upper mandible overlaps the lower by a few millimeters.









Interesting to compare bill colouration between birds in breeding and non-breeding plumage.





Back to Black-tails, looking like so many pairs of chopsticks! You can see a few plain grey-brown non-breeders here.



Caught in the low evening sun.

















Assorted flying Bar-tailed Godwits.





And some Black-tailed.

I spent a total of perhaps 16 hours over four visits (two tides per day) studying and photographing the waders at Kapar. I asked myself a few times during that time - is it possible that I could have missed anything? The answer was given me when I was going through my photos weeks later!



Yup - I missed this one at least! Captured on camera at sunset on 4th, yet not seen 'in the flesh' on the 4th or the 5th - one Asian Dowitcher (lower left). Looks like it was coming into nice plumage too!



Completely fortuitously, I managed to capture all three species in one shot, albeit not in sharp focus! Note the distinctive 'tubular' bill of the dowitcher (centre), unlike either the pointed, upswept Bar-tail's bill or the blob-tipped droopy bill of the Black-tailed. The underwing is distinctively different too.



And the toe projection beyond the tail falls nicely between those of the two godwit species!

Getting tired of waders yet? Hope not - there are many more to come!

14th August 2010: Teluk Air Tawar IBA, mainland Penang

Today I went back to the place where I discovered the wader roost on August 11th, this time armed with an assurance from the guard that he would let me in.

My excitement at the prospect of seeing the fishpond full of waders at close quarters received a severe blow when I arrived,to find a fishpond full of water! The heavy rains of the night before had filled it to a depth of one or two feet - too deep for all but the longest-legged waders! Still, I figured that the birds wouldn't know this, and would at least come in to look for a place to roost, so I set up the hide and began the long wait.

Birds started arriving almost as soon as I'd entered the hide, but not finding anywhere to land, they flew around for over an hour. As they did so they were wasting precious energy which they will need to continue their onward migration, and I couldn't help feeling bad for them. Eventually, they decided to roost on the bund between two fishponds.





Sand Plovers were the first to arrive... these are Lessers.



And here's a Greater (right).











As the tide rose, more and more birds arrived, but couldn't find anywhere to land.



Once a few birds took the big decision to roost on the bund, the rest quickly followed.





Counting and looking for leg-flags was pretty tricky!



Common Redshanks were the most numerous species.





The adults were still in breeding plumage, although the flight feathers looked remarkably unworn and fresh, making me wonder whether they have completed a wing and tail moult before migration, which would make a lot of sense I suppose.






















By contrast, the first summer birds (below) have extremely worn flight feathers - these are still their first set of juvenile feathers which they've had since fledging over a year ago! The white secondaries and inner primaries, which lack pigmentation and are therefore weaker, are particularly worn.
























This year's juveniles are, of course, still in pristine condition.



A mixed group of adults (dark, streaked below), 1st summers (plain, greyish above) and a juvenile (top right, facing away).





Some late arrivals.



The roost had several distinct species sections. This was the Redshank residence...



The sand plover, sandpiper and stint suburb...



... and the curlew compartment!



There was also just room for a gathering of godwits - a Black-tailed (left) with two Bar-tailed, showing the difference in bill structure nicely.















Aren't Black-tailed Godwits brilliant?!







Asian Dowitchers aren't bad either! There were only two today, and I didn't see them land.



A small flock of Curlew Sandpipers arriving.



This short-billed individual is probably a male.









Eurasian Curlews. Most birds were in heavy wing moult.



A flock of Great Knot flew over but I didn't see them land.



Juvenile Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers side by side. Generally speaking, juv Greaters are much colder brown than juv Lessers, lacking strong peachy colouration.







This young Grey Heron flew in, making the waders uneasy. Eventually it's presence spooked the Common Greenshank at the bottom right of the last picture. I wondered if Grey Herons would ever try to catch waders as prey.