29 August 2010

More Waders #2


A possible Greater Sand Plover on the beach at Kamiiso yesterday afternoon. I'd assumed it was the same Lesser Sand Plover from the day before but thanks to Gallicissa for pointing out my possible error. A lifer, possibly. And looking closely at the pics they look different............

This is/was being debated over at birdforum. Thanks to others who added comments to this post too.The consensus however seems to be it another Lesser Sand Plover so no lifer alas.

Wader season 2010 continues..............







It was pretty tame and pretty much ignored me as it chased around lots of bugs on the beach............











Lots of very similar shots as you can see..........







Very hot and humid still............

Other species of wader were around including the inevitable Red Necked Stints.










Tomoyuki managed to see a Spoon Billed Sandpiper with Red Necked Stints up near Sapporo. I checked the Stints today and yesterday down here but had no such luck..............all had normal shaped bills as you can see from this shot.




Other shorebirds included a very wary flock of 5 Terek Sandpiper, several Common Sandpiper, a couple of Little Ringed Plover and a flock of 20 or so unidentified flyovers (Bar Tailed Godwit probably but I'm not sure).

Here's another video I took yesterday, the Stints were on a tripod and the Plover was handheld.


Night Herons and Ospreys were all present and correct.







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Just listening to the end of the Test Match, can we ever truly trust a result with Pakistan involved again?



15 comments:

  1. Maybe lots of similar but lots of good shots Stu.. These are wonderful and I love the low angle. your osprey is beautiful too!

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  2. Briliant shots of the plover Stu. I reckon you were laid on the ground there - worth a bit of sand on the knees and elbows though. By the way I dont speak Spanish but can use and recommend Google Translate, but I dont know how it works with Japanese. The cricket is a disgrace - Pakistan should be banned from the sport for ten years min.

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  3. Wow Some really good shots again!
    The young plover looks cute and the flight shot of the stint is great. You dont wanna go twitch the Spoon-billed?

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  4. Hi Unravel, if I could drive (I can't) I would think about it............

    TBH I prefer finding my own rarities, I'll find a SB Sand eventually I hope. I so far have Hokkaido's only ever Caspian Tern and the second ever Gull Billed Tern...............

    But yup if I had a car I'd go (I have Monday and Tuesday off).......

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  5. Excellent series. I've been following your blog and always a pleasure to see its content. Well done.
    Do you have figures of shorebirds seen (counted?) on the visited sites? I would be happy increase sit coverage for our Shorebird Mapping Project. I would happy if you join. More details: http://www.worldwaders.org/index.php?modul=ujmadar2

    Thanks, Szimi
    Gyorgy Szimuly/WorldWaders

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  6. I think the first wader is a Greater Sand Plover. And I am ready to bet a few Lion Beers over it.

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  7. Really? I thought about it the day before (I assume it is the same bird)?

    I'll look into this.........

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  8. The one posted in the previous post (with Dunlin) looks a Lesser Sand Plover to me.

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  9. Yeah I assumed it was the same bird (it was in exactly the same spot but the day after)..............on looking at both the 2nd bird looks to have a longer bill/legs, plus it was much less shy than the 1st.

    Thanks, I think you just got me a lifer.......

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  10. I think this is a Lesser Sand Plover. As I learnt in the field the Greater SP has more robust and longer bill.

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  11. Hi Gyorgy, that seems to be the opinion of sone folk on birdforum. I think there are 2 different individuals involved, the first one is definitely a LSP (IMO) but the second one............?

    A little too much doubt at this stage to tick it I'm afraid..........

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  12. Yeah, you shouldn't tick it because of the doubt that surrounds it. My gut feeling of this was GSP. I agree that the bill not long enough to be a straightforward GSP. Common all to GSP in the OBC site is this "defining" feature of longish beak, which clearly stands out. When I look critically (leaving my bias aside), especially the bird above showing lateral view, I think the bill size is just not long enough. So it is probably a LSP. Which means I owe you a Lion beer or two.

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  13. Hi Galllcissa, it is a tricky one for sure. It is clearly different to the earlier individual but maybe the differences are within normal variation of this species.

    Thanks for taking an interest, I appreciate it. On the birdforum ID forum most folk (though not all) are suggesting LSP so I'll refrain from ticking it I think.

    Oh well.........

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  14. Never mind... one day it will land :)
    Just for your information here is a ref:
    http://www.sunbittern.com/id-sandplovers.html

    Cheers, Szimi

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  15. I really enjoyed your 3 Shorebirds postings. The Red-necked Stints look great! The plumage in your shots really looks different to when they get here.

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