[SeeToh]

Needed some advise here from the wader experts regarding a sighting made by me way back in September 2009 in Singapore that is still haunting me till now.

I was alone in hide 1C at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve when I observed a unique individual among a flock of around 40-50 Common Redshanks. The flock were actively feeding on the mudflat at lowtide and this unique individual caught my eye because it was, if put in humans term, a head taller than all the other redshanks there. The height difference was really obvious even to my naked eye as it literally stood out among the entire flock.

I was still a newbie birder then and do not know that this could be a Spotted Redshank (which is very rare in Singapore while the Common Redshank is very common during the migration season).

Based on the size (height) of this individual as compared to the rest of the flock (described to the best that I could above), could it be a probable Spotted Redshank?

[Cristian Mihai]

Size only it isn't a reliable feature to distinguish between these two species. Did you notice any other difference?

[SeeToh]

Was a total newbie then. Only diffence I could see between this individual and the rest of the flock was its size ie much taller!

[lou salomon]

if clearly larger: black-tailed godwit?
both spotted redshank (slightly larger than common redshank) and a godwit have much longer bills than common redsh.

[johnallcock]

Common Greenshank is another option.
Unless you have more details, this might have to go in the unidentified file, I'm afraid.

[SeeToh]

The taller individual got orange legs. So got to be Redshank. But size/height nearer to Common Greenshank than Common Redshank.

[chris butterworth]

Originally Posted by SeeToh

The taller individual got orange legs. So got to be Redshank. But size/height nearer to Common Greenshank than Common Redshank.

Not necessarily. Common Greenshank have been recorded with orangish legs. Try and check out the Godwits and Common Greenshank on Opus and concentrate on the build of the bird and how big / deep / up-curved the bill is. Bare parts on waders can be very variable.

Chris

[viator]

Hi SeeToh,

Was this the same day in Sep '09 you reported the Asian Dowitcher at 1C over WildBirdSingapore? There was also a single Black-tailed Godwit around over the same days with a lot of birders heading out there.

Since you mention orange legs - what about Grey-tailed Tattler (depending on the light they sometime seem slightly orangish to me rather than yellow)? I realize should seem slightly smaller not slightly larger...

[SeeToh]

Originally Posted by viator

Hi SeeToh,

Was this the same day in Sep '09 you reported the Asian Dowitcher at 1C over WildBirdSingapore? There was also a single Black-tailed Godwit around over the same days with a lot of birders heading out there.

Since you mention orange legs - what about Grey-tailed Tattler (depending on the light they sometime seem slightly orangish to me rather than yellow)? I realize should seem slightly smaller not slightly larger...

Hi Mike

Yes. I also sighted the Asian Dowitcher there that day within the big flock of waders there at hide IC. Surprising, I was the only one at the huge hide on that eventful morning

The unique individual is a Redshank from the long orange legs. It looked pretty much the same (from the newbie point of view) in terms of shape to the rest of the many Common Redshanks there but the size (only feature obvious to me) was nearer to that of Common Greenshanks (there were a few Greenshanks around at hide 1C for direct comparison). Was too new to birding then to know how to look at the supercilium or bill length/shape. Only when I was home reading Craig Robson's guidebook then I realized there are two species of Redshanks that could occur in Singapore

Based on the size of this unqiue Reshank, it could be a possible Spotted Redshank right? But we could not just confirm ID by just size alone .

Btw, it seems that our sighting of the Dusky Warbler early this year attracted the attention of the Records Committee as it was last sighted in Singapore at Tuas in 1995! They will contact you for more details of your sighting

Cheers

See Toh