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Any help with this wader? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter doug_newman
- Start date
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Hi doug,
When did you take the picture?A real guess,a common Sandpiper....but not very sure at all.
Mark
When did you take the picture?A real guess,a common Sandpiper....but not very sure at all.
Mark
lou salomon
the birdonist
not a common sand, & very hard to tell. looks rather like a calidris to me.
StuartReeves
Local rarity
lou salomon said:
My views exactly.
Stuart
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
We don't know when the photo was taken,so let's presume in the last few weeks.Baberspan in the NW Province has produced some remarkable vagrants,but this is usually in the summer.What birds are you likely to find at Baberspan in mid winter.The only part of the bird that I can see with some clarity is the bill.Of the calidris birds,you shouldn't really be seeing them now as they are summer visitors but you do get some staying for the winter.We can pretty much rule out nine of the 12 species recorded in SA on the season and location.This leaves three.Red Knot and Curlew Sandpiper can be ruled out on the shape of their bill.That leaves only the Little Stint.The only other bird it could be really,at this time of year,is a Common Sandpiper,also a summer visitor but again a few all year.Looking at the bill I feel that the bill is too long for a Little Stint.If the picture was taken in summer...well that's going to open a whole new can of worms,and to try and guess would be only that.
Just some thoughts.
Just some thoughts.
Ghostly Vision
Well-known member
Little stint
GV
GV
CornishExile
rydhsys rag Kernow lemmyn!
On balance, probably a Little Stint for me too, though I'd echo Mark's reservation about the bill length - surely too long for a Little Stint? Especially looking at the angle of the bird's head, which isn't entirely side-on, suggesting the bill is if anything even longer in life than it appears in this photo.
ce
ce
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Take a look at the Little Stint (http://www.birdforum.net/bird_view.php?bid=4724) in the Database and then look at the Common Sandpiper (http://www.birdforum.net/bird_view.php?bid=2406).
Jane Turner
Well-known member
I saw this and ran away last week. I thought its a Calidrid.. it ought to be a little stint, but that is a hell of a bill. Its also looks ever so leggy. If I'd got no idea where it was taken I'd be veering towards Dunlin most probably
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Dunlin?Only occurs as a vagrant in SA and has a slightly curved bill.
mikealison
Well-known member
looks like little stint to me, then again could be temminks stint
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Temminck's Stint,also only occurs as a vagrant in SA.
James Lowther
Well-known member
Whatever it is, it's definitely a calidris and not a common sandpiper
marek_walford
Well-known member
Is it really that "leggy" or is the lower part of its legs actually blades of grass.
It's turned quite a long way towards us so the bill woudn't be hugely longer if the bird was in profile.
No way it's a Common Sand.
I reckon it's a Little Stint.
It's turned quite a long way towards us so the bill woudn't be hugely longer if the bird was in profile.
No way it's a Common Sand.
I reckon it's a Little Stint.
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
James Lowther said:
James,please tell me,what calidris we going to find at Barberspan in the NW of South Africa in presumably mid winter other than a Little Stint?Sorry,but I have a problem with that bill.I haven't said it IS a Common Sandpiper,I've explained why it might be and why I have a problem with the Little Stint.Come on convince me otherwise,why is it definitely a calidris?
marek_walford
Well-known member
Not a Common Sand because...
1. No white eye-ring.
2. No dark eye-stripe.
3. No clearly defined super.
4. Not unfiormly coloured on the mantle.
Probably...
1. No white eye-ring.
2. No dark eye-stripe.
3. No clearly defined super.
4. Not unfiormly coloured on the mantle.
Probably...
Jane Turner
Well-known member
no long tail etc etc
James Lowther
Well-known member
sorry Mark,
didn't mean to be curt but just echoing what lou, stuart, marek, jane and others have said that regardless of what the probable candidates are a) it looks most like a calidrid and b) to me there's no way in the world it's a common sandpiper for many reasons including the head:body proportions, the structure and colour of the bill, the spindly black/dark legs AND the reasons others have given.
regards
James
didn't mean to be curt but just echoing what lou, stuart, marek, jane and others have said that regardless of what the probable candidates are a) it looks most like a calidrid and b) to me there's no way in the world it's a common sandpiper for many reasons including the head:body proportions, the structure and colour of the bill, the spindly black/dark legs AND the reasons others have given.
regards
James
Mark Bruce
Super Moderator
Sorry Guys,
I really can't say I agree with you.I can't make out the details that you guys seem to be seeing.
I really can't say I agree with you.I can't make out the details that you guys seem to be seeing.
David Swanepoel
Active member
For what it's worth - most migrant waders have returned to South Africa already. The photo quality certainly doesn't make for an easy I.D. here, but Common Sand certainly seems to be the closest to what could be expected. That bill is probably about a third too long for Little Stint.