Shorebirds Report

December 2006

Midsummer! And once again our Bay area is bustling with visitors. Visiting birds are here in great numbers. Some species only number a score or so but others number many hundreds. King tides reduce the number of suitable roosting sites and certainly make it easier for the bird observer to both see and count birds.

The larger species such as Eastern Curlews and Bar-tailed Godwits are here in great numbers. Over the last few weeks it has been interesting to find the differences in plumage that indicates juvenile birds who have flown south for the first time. Many of these juveniles will spend the next winter here rather than flying north for the breeding season.

With so many large birds visible it is easy to not notice the smaller birds that roost in among the salt marsh grasses and plants. Some of these little birds sit still and only become visible when they move. Patience is required or else they fly off before you can get a long enough look to identify them. Other little birds seem to be in constant motion as they busily look for food.

Red necked Stint

The Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis) is a tiny (150 cm) active bird that we often see here on flat marshy areas. It breeds in Siberia and northern Asia and is a common visitor to Australia in our summer. It is seen both on the coast and also on suitable inland wetlands. Its upper feathers are grey-brown with pale edges that give it a mottled effect. Underneath it is white with some greyish smudges on the sides of the breast. The legs and beak are black. The red colour is only seen in the breeding plumage. We commonly see flocks of these tiny birds busily picking up tiny pieces of food on the marshes and mud flats

This last month we counted a total of 27 species and 1127 birds. Our count was interrupted because of bad weather.