Hong Kong, Mai Po, waders (1 Viewer)

ekopa · Jul 8, 2014

Hello!

I spent a wonderful (though rainy) day in the begining of May in Mai Po in Hong Kong and have tons of distant photos of waders. Didn't have my scope with me so now I rely only on them.
Please help me identify some of these birds!

The first lot is on Godwits/Dowitchers
1. I can clearly see Black-tailed Godwits, anything else? (apart from Pied Avocets)
2. Asian Dowitcher?
3-5 Those that are duller - Black-tailed Godwits, those that are a bit smaller and more red -Asian Dowitchers? On #4 I can also see Red Knots?

ekopa · Jul 8, 2014

6-8 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper?
9 Red-necked Stint?
10 ?

ekopa · Jul 8, 2014

11 Gull-billed Tern with Common Greenshanks?
12 Far Eastern Curlew
13 The bird in the centre on the forefront is a Marsh Sandpiper? (Others are Common Greenshanks and a Terek Sandpiper I suppose)
14 Common Tern (if so, such a difference with what I got used in Russia!) and a group of Curlew Sanpipers on the left?

lou salomon · Jul 8, 2014

hi aleksey,

always a joy to see pics from mai po - pity you haven't had your scope with you.
but also a challenge. not totally sure but most long billed birds in pics 1-4 look like asian dowitchers to me (pic 2 clearly is one) and of course there are some black-tailed godwits in pic 4 (the one with red knots in it) but i faill to see bar-tailed godwits, maybe i'm blind yet. so many asian dowitchers at one place? maybe i'm wrong. always good to check dave's excellent blog when it comes to far east waders, here a post on the 2 limosas and asian dowitcher (note that bar-taied is larger and longer billed than blackwit there!): http://digdeep1962.blogspot.de/2011/04/4th-april-2011-pm-kapar-godwits-and.html
6-8 are sharpies indeed, 9 a red-necked stint allright and 10 are two long-toed sandpipers. nice menu!
keep them coming.

cheers

lou salomon · Jul 8, 2014

11 - correct
12 - i got to check for difference from orientalis eurasian curlew (others might be faster)
13 - all greenshanks (note same tibia length, streaky on crown, large head, wrong pattern for either plumage of marsh sand)
14 - curlew sands allright, pacific golden plover (what a beauty) and a gull-billed tern, not common: note leg length and colour, size (larger than PGP!), very pale upperparts. plus another asian dowitcher and an avocet.

Parker · Jul 8, 2014

Agree with Lou but the one in the centre in 13 looks like a Terek Sand to me.

rockfowl · Jul 8, 2014

Parker said:
Agree with Lou but the one in the centre in 13 looks like a Terek Sand to me.

Agreed and the curlew an orientalis Eurasian.

johnallcock · Jul 9, 2014

Agree with others on these.
Most birds in the first 5 pictures are Asian Dowitchers. Mai Po is a good place to see large numbers together, and this was a good spring for them - peak counts of around 200 birds in early May. There are a few Black-tailed Godwits in pictures 1 and 4 (maybe also in the others but I couldn't pick them out!). It's useful to check the upperpart patterning (streaked on dowitchers, spotted on godwits) and the presence of black barring on the underparts. Asian Dowitchers and Black-tailed Godwits often flock together at Mai Po but Bar-tailed don't usually join them (usually staying instead with the curlews/whimbrels)

Although the focus curlew in pic 12 looks like Eurasian, I'm not sure about the one in the back on the left. It seems to have a fairly buffy undertail, suggesting Far Eastern...

One bird that no-one seems to have picked up on, that is probably of interest to you, is the winter-plumaged greenshank in the middle of the flock in picture 11. This looks like a Nordmann's to me - very pale and plain upperparts, and shorter-legged than the surrounding birds. 2014 was a poor spring for them here at Mai Po, so you were lucky with this shot!

lou salomon · Jul 9, 2014

13. the bird in question clearly was the one in the front center which i referred to as greenshank, not marsh sand. but of course there is a terek sand to the left of it which i didn't mention

thanks, john, for the interesting info about gathering habits of asian dowitcher with BTG and that particular ID detail - hard to see in these images though.

the pale greenshank in pic 11 looks promising for nordmann's on colouring but without seeing bill and legs i'd have left it unidentified.

ekopa · Jul 9, 2014

Thank you for interseting comments and help!

On the possible Nordmann's Greenshank - I have onle this photo with the bill visible, no photos with legs exposed. Does it help?

Please also look at this tern. Is it also a Gull-billed Tern?

ekopa · Jul 9, 2014

On Curlews from pic 12.

I was also looking for individuals with buffier underparts. And I thought that I found it on this picture. Especially compared with the one from the first picture in this post (Btw, the one on the background to the left is a Whimbrel and the one on the 3rd pic of this post, isn't it)

Please also check the Curlews on the second picture. They also look quite brown to me...

rockfowl · Jul 9, 2014

It does look like a Nordmann's, the angle makes it difficult to judge the bill and general structure etc but the relatively unstreaked crown and plain upperparts would support the id.

I'm afraid I still don't see any Far-eastern Curlew in any of the shots.

lou salomon · Jul 9, 2014

greenshank, #10: bill base seems more extensive pale than in the common at the left and crown is unstreaked as mark says, but from this angle i can't see the blunt bill tip. still probably a nordmann's :t:

#10, yes, gull-billed tern.

#11: apart from the eurasian curlews there are some whimbrels (3rd pic = only whimbrels), tereks, common greenshanks, common redshanks, a black-tailed godwit (i think) sleeping between the 3 eurasian curlews in pic 1 and an unsharp sharp-tailed sandpiper (i think) at the right edge of pic 2.

ekopa · Jul 12, 2014

Thank you for all your comments!
Still cannot undestand the difference between Eastern and Eurasian Curlews.
I studied a very good post on this
http://digdeep1962.blogspot.de/2011/01/23-january-2011-sarawak-waterbird_27.html

Although unfortunately the rump, back and underwing are not visible on my photos, other features of Far Eastern C. are there(photo #12 and the 2nd photo from the post #11): brownish underbody including undertail coverts, plain head without any hint of pattern and even tranverse barring on some coverts...

Could you also have a look at this photo? I am curious about the bird (third from the right) of the group in the middle below the main ("highest") line of birds

lou salomon · Jul 12, 2014

it would even be a nice challenge to ID as many as poosible sp. from this pic - there are quite many.. :t:

the one you mention seems to be a basic plumaged red knot and the reddish birds in the group to the left of it should be curlew sandpipers then (bit smaller). i think the white chin is an artefact or just overemphasized by the few pixels. actually immediately to the right of that bird is a curlew sand and the last bird in this row (next to the mentioned curlew sand) an alternate plumaged red knot.
another view maybe after the football match.

johnallcock · Jul 13, 2014

ekopa said:
Thank you for all your comments!
Still cannot undestand the difference between Eastern and Eurasian Curlews.

I understand you with this comment. Even after over 10 years in HK I still struggle to separate these two if they're not in flight!
One complication I find is that Eurasian curlews in spring start to look brighter and buffier than they do in winter (breeding plumage), so look more like you would expect of Far Eastern.

Personally I think the birds in the second picture of post #11 look promising as Far Eastern Curlew. The underparts are fairly saturated and buffy, and the upperpart patterning looks right. To me it also looks like the bird on the right is showing a buff rump, where it would be white on Eurasian.

cranefan · Jul 13, 2014

In terms of identifying as many species as possible - isn't that a Chinese Egret at the back of the fifth picture?

ekopa · Jul 13, 2014

Yeah, I have a much better pic of a Chinese egret hanging around at that place

coal tit · Jul 13, 2014

Hong kong waders, mai po

ekopa said:
Yeah, I have a much better pic of a Chinese egret hanging around at that place

Nice selection of waders, whenever
I see waders like this together or similar photo,s even thou they are
Roosting they seem to have a wonderful tolerance of one another
And again better in numbers to see any predators about.

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