Thanks to David Geering who pointed out correctly that the bird is a Red
Knot. Guilty. I got over excited by the first photo in flight, but the
light was playing tricks. And to think that I have seen tens of thousands
of Red Knots and banded them! I must look more closely the next time that
I see them in flight.
I am used to seabirds appearing to change their underwing colour
(especially when light reflects off the water surface), but I can't
remember the upperwing changing to any great detail before.
I recommend people trying the photo quiz at the web site of Tom & Marie
Tarrant. There were a few common birds there that I missed also.
enough we have found that the young birds, when they do
leave us, rarely seem to travel more than a couple of kilometres before
they settle.
When we go on our daily walks with our dogs we believe that we are are
able to positively identify those birds which spent their first year to 18
months with us, yet when we go further afield, say 3 kilometres or more,
it is possible to detect quite distinct differences.
Re: Singing for more than a few seconds. One of our current "butchie"
parents (the male) sits outside our dining room window at breakfast time,
singing for 20 minutes or more, and hardly seems to pause for breath!
Regards
Ken & Beth Maling
Somers
Mornington Peninsula
Victoria.
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