2 Grey-tailed Tattlers at the Ashburton Rivermouth

[andrewcrossland]

Just been down to the Ashburton RM this evening to do a count - 2 Grey-tailed Tattlers and 3 Turnstones present. Also a fishing boat passing about 2km offshore with 100 plus Black-backed Gulls and 9 Salvin’s Mollymawk following.

[georgie]

No sign of the GTT or turnstones this evening at Ashburton river mouth, or any Otago shags amongst the spotted shags, but the rest of the usual suspects including 4 black-fronted dotterel. Keen to know if the tattlers are sighted again

[andrewcrossland]

1 Grey-tailed Tattler, 3 Turnstones, 1 imm Little Tern and 15 Royal Spoonbills at the Ashburton RM last night.

[georgie]

Awesome thanks Andrew. I haven’t had luck with grey-tailed tattler there - last night and previously have you seen them in the yellow zone where most of the other small waders are, or one of the other areas? Cheers

[andrewcrossland]

Like the turnstones, when tattlers are at the ashburton river mouth they tend to feed on riffles and edges of gravel bank edges upstream of the lagoon, usually between the top of the delta and opp the most inland huts, but sometimes up to at least another 500m
Upstream. At dusk they move to roost at the lagoon (the red circle), as do the turnstones, SIPO, etc. last night it was about 9:30pm

[georgie]

Great info thank you. Will time it for a dusk run next time. Yesterday at 5pm a number of waders - in the red circled lagoon area 10 spoonbills 9 pied stilt 8 SIPO and 6 banded dotterel, in the yellow circled lagoon arm and pools 4 turnstone, 3 black-fronted dotterel, 7 banded dotterel, 10 pied stilt and 2 SIPO.

Also 5 Caspian terns alongside 71 white-fronted and 12 black-fronted terns, couldn’t sight the little tern.

[andrewcrossland]

Tattlers typically feed up the river a little way in the area marked red, then fly down to the delta at dusk - both recent sightings they've flown roughly along the orange arrow. Hope you see it/them next visit.

Ash RM.jpg (230.24 KiB) Viewed 1235 times

[FraserGurney]

No tattler this evening, but the little tern was there again roosting in the delta.

[andrewcrossland]

Don Goodale (Canty BirdsNZ Regional Rep) has asked me to post that he checked out the Ashburton RM yesterday evening and saw the 2 Grey-tailed Tattlers and the Little Tern. He said he walked down the river west of the red circle (in the maps posted above) and found the tattlers "west of the red crcle on the map before the road ends". Hope that helps people that want to see them?