Any help with this wader? (1 Viewer)

[marek_walford]

Still don't think it's a Common Sand. The attached pic has been (over)sharpened to bring out some of the detail. To my mind it's very clear that it's not a Common Sand. I still think it's a Little Stint but could be persuaded it's a Dunlin; definitely a calidris though.

 

[lou salomon]

david,
as said this definitely is a calidris spec. i think we all got tricked by the longish lookin bill, but: if you you compare it with the head size, it fits for little stint. 2 things bother me though: 1. the habitat where doug took this pic (arid grassy place!, ok 300 m away was - what kin'a water?) ok sometimes they land for a short time on such places; 2. very solid lookin dark lore extending apparently behind the eye - ok, minuta is very variable... also there is no hint of the double "V" on the back (has to be an adult also on season - juvs get later down there).
--> "75% little stint".

this one is shot in dobrogea, romania, jan 04 (by bodo attila) and it looks totally different (well, it's january). i just like the foto...

 

[Mark Bruce]

I still think it's a Little Stint but could be persuaded it's a Dunlin; definitely a calidris though.

You do realise a Dunlin at Barberspan would have been very very big news and not likely not to go unnoticed.

 

[David Swanepoel]

Hmmmm, still not convinced it's a calidrid. Doug, send a pic along to Trevor Hardaker and see what he suggests. As Mark said...a dunlin wouild be BIG news in SA. Baberspan btw is an inland waterbody and the vegetation in the area is arid Cymbopogon-Themeda Grassland.
Regards,
- David

 

[StuartReeves]

You do realise a Dunlin at Barberspan would have been very very big news and not likely not to go unnoticed.

Nobody is saying this is a Dunlin. There seems to be a general consensus that this is a Little Stint, albeit a rather long-billed individual (hence the resemblance to a Dunlin). I think that that is a reasonable conclusion.

Stuart

 

[Mark Bruce]

David,
Not yet convinced,too.The plumage on the "over sharpened"pic does look a bit more Little "Stintish",but that bill sets the alarm bells ringing.I still can't make out the head,legs and tail well enough to dismiss the Common Sandpiper.I still have a problem with all the vagrants that are being proposed and entertained as real options over the Common Sandpiper,when there have only been a handful of sightings of these species ever in the country.When a Little Stint,and if it's not, then it's this type of vagrant is proposed,I have a problem accepting that,because there should be an alarm going off in your head saying that's almost impossible.I'm sure that a lot of British birders would have a lot to say if I started seeing a possible Tree Swallow in a fuzzy photo of what appeared to be a Sand Martin,taken at some location in the UK.I'm sure that they would expect me to consider all the local swallows,swifts and Martins as more likely candidates and that they would wonder if I appreciated the situation if I said it's a Sand Martin,or if not,then probably a Tree Swallow.This bird is what appears to be a Common Sandpiper or a Little Stint.I favour the Common Sandpiper because of the bill.I'm very interested to hear what Trevor Hardaker says and if he's happy with that bill on a Little Stint,then I'll be covinced.

 

[lou salomon]

mark and david, maybe you just have to trust northern hemisphere birders - we see tons of calidrids here and a common sand is usually told instantly from a calidris. structurally i'd say this is 100% a calidris. enough reasons were given before. and again: bill looks long from this angle, but it can be even shorter than the length of the head. the question i fear it won't be solved is, what calidris it is. since little stint seems the only non-vagrant candidate why not assume it could be one?

lou

 

[Richard D]

I can't see it as a Common Sandpiper, I'm sure it's a Calidris. Little Stint seems likeliest but I agree bill length does look a little odd. I don't suppose a juv Curlew Sandpiper is a possibility, although I'd expect even from that angle to see more of a decurved shape?

 

[Mark Bruce]

mark and david, maybe you just have to trust northern hemisphere birders - we see tons of calidrids here and a common sand is usually told instantly from a calidris.
lou

Lou,
Why should I just have to trust northern hemisphere birders?You get 17 species of calidrids in Europe(includes vagrants),I think.Southern Africa has 12.Little Stint is more common in SA than in the UK,for instance.I live in the "Chinese"region and we get 17 species here.Now,a lot of those calidrids appear in different plumage when they are in different parts of the world.I'm glad where you are,you and your northern hemisphere mates can usually instantly tell a common sand from a calidris,but this northern hemisphere birder doesn't have these powers and my mates around here also seem to be lacking them,and most of them haven't ever lived south of the equator.Come on Lou,really!

Richard,
I guess a juv Curlew Sandpiper would be an option.I share your reservation about the bill,but it's a common summer visitor and some have been known to stay for the winter.

 

[lou salomon]

wasn't meant as an offence at all, mark, it's just that this bird doesn't look at all like an actitis! (common/spotted) but very very like a calidris.

must be western sand :brains: then!

 

[doug_newman]

More info on the wader

It was taken in February.
I was going through my old wader pics and dug this one out. Trevor did say that he thought it may well be little stint but the pic was not good enough to say for certain.
If I can throw some carnage into the mix, I saw it fly away as I got out of the car. It was way to long legged to be a little stint, but that unfortunately does not show in the pic.
It looked rather long winged as it flew away and its upper tail coverts were almost completely dark, with very little white from the vent wrapping around onto the upper tail coverts.
I just wanted to see if some of you northerners had any other ideas or shared a similar view to opinions I have received so far.
I think the sum of it all is that it could well be a little stint at the upper end of bill length range, but if it was anything stranger, the pic would have to be a lot better than the one I have.

 

[doug_newman]

I also must mention that the toes projected beyond the tail in flight

 

[doug_newman]

wasn't meant as an offence at all, mark, it's just that this bird doesn't look at all like an actitis! (common/spotted) but very very like a calidris.

must be western sand :brains: then!

From your mouth too the birding god's ears. I would love to be the first person in southern africa to ever record a western sandpipier.
Besides the bill shape towards the tip look wrong for that anyway.
The long legs have me confused. Also I must say it looked bigger than a little stint when we saw it.

 

[doug_newman]

head shape

I have loaded the head/bill profiles of little and red-necked stint over this wader and clearly the head shape is not right.

 

[David Swanepoel]

I just asked another local birder's opinion, and his gut feel is that it could be little stint. It sometimes is even more difficult to judge size, behaviour etc from a photo. I have to say I have seen thousands of little stint, and something about this bird just doesn't fit, but I guess that's as close as we're going to get on an ID here.