Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are pretty amazing birds, busily breeding in the northern hemisphere at the moment but will be heading back in early spring.
1/800, f/7.1, ISO 400
Canon 7DII, Canon 200-400 L IS USM
They forage in shallow water for all kinds of invertebrates. There is something restful about watching waders as they forage, and something stressful about trying to identify some species! Sharpies are pretty common and their reddish crown and yellow-olive legs are helpful identifiers. I like the way their warm brown feathers have darker centres, and their subtly streaked underparts.
I’d hoped to give a wonderful update on my old dog as her vestibular disease symptoms have greatly improved, but tonight I realised she’d been bleeding. I have just spoken with the vet who says she’s okay to wait until the morning, hopefully that’s a good sign, and hopefully next week’s update will be perfect. She’s a golden retriever, with her 14th birthday coming up next month.
The birds in my garden have been especially lovely this week. The Eastern Koel has been calling and I’ll try, again, to get a photograph to share with you.
Happy birding, Kim
PS I updated my redbubble page yesterday – please let me know if you have any suggestions, thank you!
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Thats a sweetie!
I think so too 🙂
I’m surprised to read that you have an Eastern Koel calling in late June. After March we don’t hear then again till August on Bribie Island, Queensland. Love your Posts! Marj Webber
Hi Marj, it is a weird time of year to hear one now you mention it – I assure you I haven’t been having too much whisky on my cornflakes! Maybe it got left behind when the others flew north, like the lone sharpie at the WTP the other day? It’s only been in the past few years I’ve heard koels in the area at all, firstly a few kms north east of here and a year or two later at my place. A few strange things have happened here over the years, including albicauda Grey Fantails and a Fluttering or Hutton’s Shearwater (dead in a paddock).
All birds are amazing. Feathered enchantment.
I hope (so much) that your vet visit gives you comfort and relief, and that next week is much better for both of you.
Thanks heaps EC