Wader ID help please

[Suzi]

HI guys,

Thanks for your comments, and the pix Brent. I'm sorry about the photos. I was guiding a group of people (in a voluntary capacity of course) and so I wasn't really able to stop and take more photographs and pursue the bird a bit, as I would have done if I was on my own. Also I didn't have my big telephoto on the camera, as I was travelling light.

I've seen RN Stints before and I didn't even consider it. The jizz was so different. My first impression was an upright stance and long legs. As I haven't seen a lot of Sandpipers, I thought it must be one of the many I haven't seen before.

Now of course, I'm kicking myself, I didn't stop and take more pix.

If anyone wants to go and have a look in the next week, it was at the north end of Manukapua, tucked out of the wind in the dune to sand margin that has a short marshy grass and shell-bank. It's on the land-ward side of the island. As mentioned before it was with a single Turnstone and near a larger group of Turnstones with scattered NZ Dotts and Banded Dotts in the same area.

As you can see from the pix, it was smaller than the Turnstone (23cm), so maybe around 17cm? Having a look at my field guide again, could it be a Mongolian Dotterel (too small??), or a Baird's Sandpiper or Western Sandpiper ?

I don't have any other pix. I'll have a go at doing what you say with the pix Rewi, but I think as they were so distant, that the image will blur.

Suzi

[Suzi]

OK, I have put the photos on my bird photo blog at http://kiwibirdnz.blogspot.com
Same pix, but in more closeup where possible.

The bill appears longer than at first glance....

Definitely going back for more pix asap !

Suzi

[AlanShaw]

Hi Suzi,
After seeing your pics I would say you were right first time-------it is a White-rumped Sandpiper! The long wings, bill shape, leg length and general colouring are all spot-on. The pale wing-bar looks a little broad, but that may just be due to the camera. One picture is certainly better than a thousand words!
Best wishes,
Alan Shaw at Kaikoura

[philbattley]

Hi Suzi,

That top picture is the best one! It's long-winged enough for a White-rumped, and has a white rump. Highly suspicious. Richard Chandler has a picture in his excellent shorebird ID book (that MNT sells) on p 247 of a bird with a streaky grey wash across its breast and flanks, and he comments that that wash is a useful separator from stints and Curlew Sand. The lack of wing moult in your bird suggests that it's a juvenile, which fits with it being way off course. I'd say every twitcher in the Auckland region ought to take a day off work and go and confirm this ID!

Phil

[Suzi]

Thanks Phil and Alan for those comments

Interesting to note that in Pizzey and Knight's FG Birds of Aus, they say of the WRS; "the only stint-sized sandpiper with a white rump" ! And the rest of the entry goes on to note many features that appear on "my" bird

So from that and your responses, I'm pretty persuaded that it IS a White-rumped Sandpiper and I'm keen to get back there tomorrow afternoon, hoping against hope that it will be in the same area that I first saw it ! If it is, I will be under some pressure to get some decent photos of it and restore my credibility as a photographer ! While the other shots are sadly inadequate, at least I took something !

Now don't you all go crowding "my" bird before I get there. No need to compete with the FG to exceed the record of more than two twitchers at a time !

All the best,
Suzi

[Rewi]

Good luck on the return visit Suzi
Still puzzled about the ID. I've seen plenty of White Rumped Sandpipers, none looking like that one,
and none that had the white rump visible all the time the bird was at rest. Still hopeful that you'll
discover it's actually something much rarer!!
Please keep passing put updates whilst you're there, negative or otherwise. Maybe you could call
Brent of Sav to put your news onto here and Birding NZ? That would be much appreciated.
Hope you find it again, and thanks for reporting it as quickly as you did.
Rewi

[AlanShaw]

Hi Suzi and All,
I am a little surprised at the reluctance of this forum to identify the wader in Suzi's photos. If they had been posted on Surfbirds "Britain and Ireland Stop Press" with a request for the ID the answers would have been quick and decisive. In over forty years of "twitching" in Britain I have seen a good number of White-rumped Sandpipers. Indeed I have filmed or videoed many of them. The bird in the photos is typical of the birds occurring annually in Britain. They are mainly first-winter birds in Sept/October. Suzi's photos show enough detail to confidently identify this species without any doubt. For those who feel the legs are too long, then I would point out that this bird is standing erect with straight legs, unlike Brent's pics where the bird is feeding with flexed legs. I think Gary is getting mixed-up with Baird's Sandpiper, which has very long wings, noticeably horizontal posture and short legs.
Cheers,
Alan Shaw at Kaikoura

[philbattley]

Quick, whip the best image over into the ID quiz. Then you'll have lots of people venturing opinions!

Bear in mind that most birders in NZ seldom have real need to identify anything out of the ordinary, and the last fully substantiated White-rumped Sand in NZ was now 38 years ago, before Brent was even born. For a discussion point, ask about the Lake Ellesmere White-rumps of the early 1980s...

Phil

[Jan]

The Ellesmere White-rumped Sandpipers are frequently mentioned by Colin Hill. He has been trying to find another for nearly 30 years. Today he told me 'back then they didn't have decent books or telescopes'. He is just so tolerant. I reckon they ticked the wrong box in the check list. There were supposed to have been 15 of them.

[Brent Stephenson]

Sav took a quick look and ventures to suggest sanderling...a number of features fit - contrasting supercilium/crown stripe (front on photo), broad wingbar, and size. Rump however is completely at odds...but...

Cheers,