Namibia - Swakopmund Salt Works (1 Viewer)

[Jacob12]

Hi, I went to the Namibian coast recently for the migrants. I'm not familiar with waders at all, so I need some help with the little peeps.

1. Common Tern ? (Sandwich Terns are nearby but these look different to me)
2 & 3. Little Stint or Sanderling? I'm not sure how to differentiate between the two?

Thanks!

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello,
nr. 2 is winter plumaged Little Stint. But I struggle to find a reason.
Yes, size is impossible to judge, but I get a small wader impression from this.

nr. 3 is a very worn Little Stint imo. Hind toe eliminates Sanderling. I think its an adult bird, but it gives a slight strange feeling to me. Reason is surely that I havent seen much very worn adult Little Stints in autumn.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Not a confident answer regarding the Terns:
I see nothing wrong for two Common Terns:

• they appear smaller than the Sandwich Terns
• are darker than the Sandwich Terns
• both have a reddish/pale/flesh tinge to the legs
• both have extensively dark primaries

Other interesting Terns are hidden in the background:

• there are at least two (three or more?) smaller Terns with
• pale upperparts, matching the Sandwich Terns around
• pale orange legs
• really black outer primaries, contrasting to the paler inner primaries. Yes this difficult to judge here, but its scarce at least (? hope for confirmation) to find a Common Tern with really black (not dark blackish) worn primaries in Europe. Caveat: do they wear to such a dark black color in Africa in october? But compare to the Tern with the dark blackish, but clearly paler primaries in the center. Darker upperparts might well due to the reason that this is a Common Tern.

Yes, I think they might well be Roseate Terns.

And what are the two darker, shaggy crested Terns?

Conclusion? More questions than answers regarding the Terns for me. I hope for more comments!

 

[Jacob12]

We also have Damara Terns here, which could be the culprit.

RE: The bigger ones, yes--there were many crested terns around

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

We also have Damara Terns here, which could be the culprit.

RE: The bigger ones, yes--there were many crested terns around

Sorry, than I am glad I wrote "Not a confident answer regarding the Terns:" For me, with only experience from Europe its often (at least) not a good idea to comment on birds from other regions.
I havent seen Damara Tern before. Please read my comment with this in mind.