MEGA - Asiatic Dowitcher Motueka Spit. Ho.. Ho.. Ho!

[Ian Williams]

Still there today with the godwits and whimbrel. At times on both sides of the spit. Thanks Steve
Cheers
Ian

[Steve Wood]

Still here, 17:30 roosting on spit.

Steve

[Amber Calman]

Went to look for the Asiatic Dowitcher this morning. It was near the edge of the water (wading in occasionally) with one of the two flocks of Bar-tailed Godwit. But I do not think I would have spotted it if it had not been for three other birders with their scopes (of which I lack), that I would have seen it! Although I may have spotted it later when looking threw my photos, indeed I had no idea I got any shots until I got home.

IMG_5724.jpg (231.81 KiB) Viewed 2881 times

Also, thank you to who ever owned the scopes for letting us have a look!

I went along to the terns, but due to my in-experence with terns and my unsurety of what I was looking for at the time, did not see a Common Tern nor any thing else. There were quite a number of young terns and of course adults landing to feed them so I got some photos of them as well.

[Matthias]

I went to Motueka on Friday. I was there 3 hours before high tide and quickly found the Dowitcher still feeding on the mudflat. After having seen the size and plumage differences, the Dowitcher was relatively easy to pick out later when the birds were resting on the spit. In addition, the bird was almost constantly twitching one leg when standing. I don't know if it has been doing this on other days but it was very conspicuous on Friday and made it easy to find the Dowitcher among the godwits even when the birds had their heads tucked in.

Dowitcher.jpg (191.35 KiB) Viewed 2827 times

Nice to meet 5 other birders on the site.
Hats off to Steve for finding the bird, and thanks to Tim for the tip to arrive early.

Cheers,
Matthias

[Steve Wood]

Hi Matthias, All good.
I had noticed the "twitchy Leg" thin but had forgotten to mention it. I can't think of an explanation why this is going on.

Steve

[Brent Stephenson]

Hi all,
Dowitcher was present today around 1200-1300, along the spit towards the tern colony with the barwit flock. Thanks to Steve Wood for showing us around and getting us on the bird.

Cheers,

[Tim Barnard]

Great effort Brent
Tim

[Matthias]

Here is another photo of the Dowitcher that shows the underwing (but not much else of the bird).

Dowitcher2.jpg (156.19 KiB) Viewed 2693 times

In my last post I forgot to mention the Gull-billed Tern that flew along the inner edge of the spit in N-S direction at about 9 am on Friday.

GullbilledTern.jpg (130.76 KiB) Viewed 2693 times

[sav]

The dowitcher showed really well for Steve Wood and myself this afternoon. Circumstances led us there about 5 hours before high tide and the bird was busy feeding on the edge of the channel by the wrecked boat. It later came up with the rest of the birds towards the spit.
There was also a Whimbrel present.
Steve Wood - legend!
Cheers

[sav]

Hi all,

Matt Jones, along with Steve Wood, failed to find the dowitcher yesterday afternoon (!!?). I know there are still some people that want to see it - so please do keep posting if you see it (or not).

cheers