Thursday, March 4, 2010

Lesser Sand-Plover

Some photos I am NOT pleased with but the sighting I am very pleased with - so here are the photos. The bird is a Lesser Sand-Plover which I photographed back on the 11th February and the interesting thing about it is the white flag on its leg. I have only just heard from the person who keeps the records that the bird has apparently lost a second flag and it was possibly flagged in Shanghai, China. I always find it fascinating to hear where the migratory shorebirds have actually visited on their journeys up and down the flyway.
The second photo shows the flagged bird as it appeared with others on the shoreline.

7 comments:

  1. Regardless of photo quality, it's always so rewarding to see a bird on our "much wanted" list!! At least you got a record shot and had the sighting. If only birds could tell us about their journeys eh..

    Nice one Mick.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Tricia, yes, if only the birds could tell us about their journeys. I am always amazed when I actually look at the distances covered - and the size of the birds!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Mick
    Another "brush with fame", eh?
    Shame you cannot get a clear read out of the Flag. But obviously there is some information you have been able to gather, probably as not many of these guys get flagged.
    Cheers
    Denis

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Denis, from the listing in the Queensland Wader Study Group's quarterly journal there are a lot of flags seen quite regularly. However, in this area I/we have only ever found 3 flags in the 6 years I have been involved with counting. So it still remains a novelty for me and quite a thrill when you know where the bird was flagged.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Mick. Is the "flag" similar to a bird band in the US? Does it have a number or ID that is traceable?

    Very cool find!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice catch. Good to be rewarded for getting out and about among the shorebirds.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Larry, yes very similar idea to the bird band but as you can see much more easily seen I think. Some have numbers/letters but not all. Different colors are used by different areas so that is used for more general ID of where the bird was first flagged.

    Hi Tony, yes it's nice to find a flagged bird - but I'm out among them whenever the weather is good - and I sure wish it would stop raining right now!!!!

    ReplyDelete