Identification & White Oystercatcher

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

I'm travelling up the west coast of the Coromandel at the moment & came across these birds in a small bay.

Is this a godwit? It seems a lot lighter than the others, maybe a juvenile?



There were quite a few wrybills



And this white oystercatcher, I'm assuming from reading previous blogs that this is Blanche from over Kawakawa Bay way & she is a leucistic variable oystercatcher. Would I be right?





And finally in amongst the oystercatchers was this sorry soul, it looked like it had deformed feet along with it's colouring.

[Jan]

It is a Bar-tailed Godwit in winter plumage, could be a juvenile/immature but impossible to tell now, at least for me.
Someone else might comment.

The second pic is not a Wrybill, it's a New Zealand Dotterel in winter plumage.

The bird with bits of feet missing is not unusual, really. They seem to lose toes by getting clams
and other shellfish clamped onto them and then can't pick them off. I expect the shellfish finally die
and fall off but by then it's too late for the foot. Also seen Godwit with this problem.

Have a good trip.

[Mxyzptlk]

That leucistic VOC looks like it could be Blanche discussed elsewhere on this blog. I wondered where she had gone. Haven't seen her on the western side of the Firth or had reports of her being seen around Kawakawa Bay for sometime. The last time she was spotted in the west was out on the mud at Duders 15 months back. If there is a black spot midway down her back then it is Blanche. Maybe that is one of the kids in the lower pic.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Maybe I should have compared it with my earlier wrybill photo first eh?



Thanks for the replies, that poor oystercatcher must be pretty unlucky as he's lost both feet to some extent.

The dotterel population is in good health in this bay as there were about 2 dozen resting on the shell bank.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

That leucistic VOC looks like it could be Blanche discussed elsewhere on this blog. I wondered where she had gone. Haven't seen her on the western side of the Firth or had reports of her being seen around Kawakawa Bay for sometime. The last time she was spotted in the west was out on the mud at Duders 15 months back. If there is a black spot midway down her back then it is Blanche. Maybe that is one of the kids in the lower pic.

I didn't detect a black spot on her back Mxyzptik, she looked pure white to me although I wasn't looking for a black mark.

[Mxyzptlk]

No mark then not Blanche and a new leucistic report for the Firth.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

No mark then not Blanche and a new leucistic report for the Firth.

No mark that I can see but I'll possibly be able to check it out further tomorrow, where did it appear on the back?

[Mxyzptlk]

Here be Blanche.

Those are black feathers on her back. They appear consitently in a number of pics I took over several years while she hung out in the Seabird Coast-Kawakakwa Bay area. They are assymetrically placed an are easy to see from her left side and are not always visible when seen from her right.

Maybe she has to become Blanche I and your bird Blanche II.

Great pics, by the way. You have made my afternoon.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Here be Blanche.

Those are black feathers on her back.

You think? I thought it was a shadow but I bow to your superior knowledge & I do see what you mean . I'm going to be looking very closely if I manage to see her again. Glad I made your afternoon!

[Neil Fitzgerald]

Perhaps she has changed with a moult? The white kereru I've seen over the years near here has got much whiter. Well, I assume it is the same one because it seemed a bit unlikely that there would be another in the same place. But, maybe it is progeny? The white tui in the area is definitely not a single bird, which does raise the question of just how many there are, or have been in that spot over the years. Only way to know would be to band or have one of these white birds in captivity. Are there any examples of birds like these, marked and followed through several moults and changes noted?