Yes, David (Stowe), I am out here.
But I am so OVER Wandering Tattlers!
Right now I am doing Egrets, so much easier to identify. Next week I hope to
be doing White-browed Treecreepers: also much easier to identify than
Wandering Tattlers.
I'm also not surprised that Flickr is on the banned list of some businesses.
There is some good stuff there but there is a lot of weird stuff also and it
is a great aid to wasting time.
Having said that, it is a shame you can't see my photos. Can you find a
friend who has access? Preferably a friend with Broadband.
Simon, I have to say that I would not like to say which species the tattler
is in your photo, except to say it is a tattler.
There is evidence that a few Wandering Tattlers sometimes do stay in
Australia during the Australian winter. I have photographed a couple on the
Sunshine Coast in SE Queensland so your bird could possibly be a Wandering
Tattler.
Possibly the biggest thing going for it being a Wandering Tattler is the
habitat. I would think that you would be more likely to find Wandering
Tattlers in that sort of habitat (wave-swept rocks and rock-platforms
[Pizzey and Knight]) than Grey-tailed tattlers.
Your bird looks like it is not in breeding plumage and would probably be a
juvenile or immature. They are very hard to identify from a distance.
The call is a good way to tell which species it is but it may not be the
100% guarantee than many birders believe it is.
Other than that you should try to base your identification on at least two
physical features to be sure. The length of the nasal groove is a good
feature to note but there is some evidence that it may not be 100% accurate
either. Currently, the only accepted 100% accurate diagnostic difference
(some people will surely tell me that a diagnostic feature can only be 100%
accurate or it is not diagnostic..yeah..ok..boring....) is in the scales on
the back of the tarsus. But, as that is usually impossible to see in the
field, I won't go into it here although it is shown in my Flickr set of
photos.
Perhaps you could try for some more photos?
If you can get some better ones (closer) you could send them to me at
and I will look at them. I could also show them to another tattler-tyro who
(should that be "whom"..or doesn't anyone use "whom" anymore?) I will not
name here because it will only make him feel important and wanted.
I will, however, be away from my station for all of August.
Sorry I can't do any better.
Bob Inglis
(in Egretsville)
Sandstone Point
Queensland
Australia
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