• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Wader id, Jordan/Aqba, April 2013 pls (1 Viewer)

B

bhutjoe

Well-known member
Hi, in going through some old photos I found these two where I am unable to identify the species. They were take in April 2013 at the waste water plant outside of Aqaba Jordan. Any help would be very much appreciated. Both photos were digiscoped but as you can tell I had better success with one than the other:)
thank you in advance
steve
 

Attachments

  • aqaba 2.jpg
    aqaba 2.jpg
    172.6 KB · Views: 160
  • aqaba bird.jpg
    aqaba bird.jpg
    170.9 KB · Views: 115
Wow, thank you for the quick reply. The redshank would be a lifer for me. Much appreciated. Thank you again Lou.
all the best
steve
 
My first impression on the 2nd bird was also Marsh Sand; I can't easily reconcile the (visible) plumage with WS; looking carefully, the tip of the bill seems to be hidden behind the bank.
 
I'm in the Wood Sand camp - too strong a supercilium for Marsh, and I can't see the bill going behind the rock, as the rock is well behind the bird (unless the bird was designed by M C Escher :-O)
 
Nutcracker said:
I'm in the Wood Sand camp - too strong a supercilium for Marsh, and I can't see the bill going behind the rock, as the rock is well behind the bird (unless the bird was designed by M C Escher :-O)
Click to expand...
There's really no rock there, it's a dry mud bank (surely man made) and irregular in shape, of unknown width; the bird is sitting in a depression on the top of the bank, with the lateral part of the chest being hidden by the bank (a dry muddy crest, which I believe is also hiding part of the bill).
 
i think we won't reach consensus here. another pro wood to me seems the size of the head: usually marsh has a small head compared to body. and lore appears to be strongly dark marked (in marsh quite inconspicous). also upperparts darker than in the nearby spotshank, while at least adult marsh should be as pale as the spotshank. but this all could be deceiving with such a pic and i think it isn't that important to put a name on it ;)
 
Last edited:
Thank you everyone for the illuminating discussion. In reviewing my checklist for this day and location I had marked Common Ringed plover, Common Redshank, and Common sandpiper as the waders I was able to identify. But I did not have either the Wood or Marsh noted, for what that is worth.
I appreciate everyone's attempt and your comments.
all the best
steve
 
Reading the ID forum occasionally is pretty illuminating to see what people's thoughts are on relatively common birds and how complicated it is. I would never even remotely consider Marsh for the second bird, it's like a completely different bird, but yet many people would!
 
opisska said:
Reading the ID forum occasionally is pretty illuminating to see what people's thoughts are on relatively common birds and how complicated it is. I would never even remotely consider Marsh for the second bird, it's like a completely different bird, but yet many people would!
Click to expand...

An ambiguous photo can trigger completely different responses in people that would likely not struggle to ID a bird given clearer views/photos. I can certainly see why this is possibly/probably a Wood Sand.

We've seen this many times before-hence why I think we should leave it unidentified.
 
Wait, is there a bird on the image I am not seeing? Are we talking about the bird to the left of the Spotted Redshank in the first photo, right? What exactly is wrong with a Wood Sandpiper there? The upper side of the bird is much darker than the Spotted Redshank, the bill is short ...
 
opisska said:
Wait, is there a bird on the image I am not seeing? Are we talking about the bird to the left of the Spotted Redshank in the first photo, right? ...
Click to expand...

Must be a bird you aren't seeing ...the bird we are talking about is right of the Spotted Redshank 👍
 
I was thinking about this the other day. How much more difficult it is to ID a bird with only a single photograph than in real life or from a video. Even difficult views in life can be better than a good single photograph.

btw this bird (to the right of the spotted redshank) is clearly a wood sandpiper :)

To be serious for a minute though, birds can look a lot brighter and a bit more "pied" looking when it is so bright like it often is in middle east. The sun reflects off the ground very well there.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 4 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

M
New Zealand Wader ID please
Replies
11
Views
977
smiths
S
B
More bad photos for ID help, Wader (?) Nepal, Nov 28. 2023
Replies
14
Views
834
THE_FERN
T
manwa47
Falcon ID Crete, Greece
Replies
8
Views
664
lou salomon
lou salomon
B
Gull ID help please, Iraq, April 2022
Replies
3
Views
651
bhutjoe
B
B
Pallid or common swifts? Baghdad, March 2021
Replies
2
Views
585
bhutjoe
B

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top