Trivial coastal bird ID from an occasional watcher

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Hi Kim,

Thanks. I can't be sure about the beak length, though I'm inclined to think short. They were at least 100 metres away and I had no binocs.  The very clear ID on one flying bird was the prominent black trailing edge on the under wing.

DN

On 9 Mar 2021, at 8:22 am, Kim Farley <> wrote:

Hi DN

My thought is that a group of that number, that sort of size, and active in their movements were likely Curlew Sandpipers.  They have the dark trailing edge to the wing. Another possibility of about the same size and superficially similar from a distance is the Sharp tailed Sandpiper. These two species are often seen in the same place so both were probably there. Their bill is a bit shorter and straight.   Even more active in their movements but much smaller are Red necked Stints - but tiny compared to a Gull. Bigger than all of the above are the Godwits but they have very long bills which you would have seen clearly I think. 

Kim

On Tue, Mar 9, 2021 at 1:15 AM <m("dcnicholls.com","dcn");" class="">> wrote:

Flocks of up to 40 or so I'd say. Bills long enough to dig in the sand but too far away to be sure. Definitely smaller than a Silver Gull.

DN

On 8 Mar 2021, at 7:06 pm, Kim Farley <> wrote:

Long bill? Shortish bill? How big compared to a Silver Gull? And you say fairly large flocks. Is that 10 birds or 30 or maybe 50? 

Cheers

Kim

On Mon, Mar 8, 2021 at 5:10 PM <m("dcnicholls.com","dcn");" target="_blank" class="">> wrote:

On the sand flats in the inlet in Merimbula at low tide, fairly large flocks of small-medium wading birds, digging in the sand. Too far away to see clearly, but they had dark heads and backs, white underwing with a black strip along the trailing edge of the wing feathers. They tended to trot fairly rapidly back and forth, then flew off in a flock.

I doubt this is an exotic observation, but the iPhone birds app was unclear.

ID help appreciated.

DN
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