Power cuts and a failed UPS back up battery meant that I missed my first Friday lirralirra post since I began in 2012! I’m working on my laptop now and had these exquisite little birds waiting patiently in a draft.
I’m especially fond of Red-necked Stints, Australia’s smallest shorebird, and found this beaut shot in my archives.
Aren’t they gorgeous! They are only about 13-17cm long and can be quite tricky to spot at first, especially if they are foraging on sand. Their markings are detailed shades of brown and soft buff and white.
The Pied Cormorant photograph above also shows a flurry of more than a dozen Red-necked Stints, some more clearly than others. I think this gives a clearer idea of just how tiny these little waders are.
Red-necked Stints are the smallest of the migratory waders that spend time in Australia. Each year they fly 25,000 kilometers from here to their breeding grounds in Siberia and Alaska, and back again. Truly, truly remarkable.
Happy birding, Kim
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So remarkable!
Thanks Alyssa! 🙂
The stints just seem to blend in so easily, I’ve been taking photos of other birds only to see them laters in the shot lol
That’s so funny Julie! I’ve had people think I was using a long lens to photograph distant seaweed as they couldn’t see the stints.
I do like the way you’ve caught the subtle dappling of red on the stint’s neck, Kim. And I really am in awe of their navigational and migratory abilities – especially with climate change wreaking havoc with their long flight over land and sea. Amazing how small they are, too – thank God we do not allow people to drive their cars on most Australian beaches, or else these little birds would not stand a chance of escaping being run over. South Australia permits cars to be driven on their beautiful beaches, like the wonderful Coorong, which is a scandal, and disastrous for bird life – I long for the day when the SA government finally sees sense and bans this – it’s like vandalism on wheels for wildlife.
Thank you Deirdre. I totally agree about driving on beaches, it beggars belief. The beach nesting birds don’t have a chance. Which makes me think of the Hooded Plovers I’ve written about before and how some people allow their dogs to race unleashed around the nesting sites. I will never understand why anyone thinks that a few unnecessary moments of freedom for their pet is worth the life of an endangered species, or any species come to that.
Wow, what a beautiful little bird and thanks for pointing them out in the cormorant photo, I thought it was just all seaweed.
They’re tiny!
I’ve had people walk between me and stints at the beach Donna as they hadn’t seen the birds at all, not even when they took off, looped around and returned. I can’t imagine what they thought I was focussing on with a long lens!
I am glad to see a post from you (though it hasn’t yet appeared in my reader). I was worried – one of my skills.
The migration of birds, particularly such tiny ones, blows me away.
Mind boggling at its best.
I have the same skill EC and sometimes wish it would be a little quieter. The migration really is mind boggling.