Little Curlews

 I neglected my usual winter patch in the Matsusaka/Tsu area this year. I say winter but could easily add spring and autumn, there's always something going on. And instead, I head up to Lake Biwa whenever I had free time in search of Lesser Scaup. Successfully in search of Lesser Scaup I might add... unbelievable! This obsession was the result of a female being seen in December. I never found it but what must the odds have been against finding a different bird in the same area? I wonder how many rare ducks are overlooked on Lake Biwa or along coasts where massive aggregations occur. Maybe I should focus on finding a Redhead next winter? Yeah, right.

Anyway, it was good to be getting back to my old stomping ground but each time I went I felt the place hadn't quite lived up to expectation. There weren't the concentrations of winter gulls I'd been looking forward to and the spring build up never really took off. The spring wader passage was slow taking off too, it still hasn't really got going. Plus trying to find habitat in the right condition at the right time has been hard work. 

Moan, moan, moan. But looking back at the five visits I've made since 23 March there's actually been a stand out bird each and every time. There was a Thayer's Gull on that first visit and, by two days, my earliest ever Latham's Snipe on 30 March. Into April and the 7th, 13th and 19th produced a totally unexpected Pallas's Reed Bunting, a patch tick singing Japanese Robin and two Little Curlews respectively. It's not to be sniffed at, is it?

So, finally, on to the title birds. I was on the seawall checking the landward side pools for any Garganey which should be arriving now (zero), or any stints along the muddy edges (zero), when my eye was caught by a couple of large waders circling the field behind one of many solar farms that blight the area. They looked as though they'd been put up and were aiming to re-settle, these Far Eastern Curlews in turn led me to notice two much smaller waders, likewise circling and ultimately dropping to the fields. I've seen enough Little Curlews trying the Pacific Golden Plover ploy, Whimbrel ploy even, not to be fooled for a second. Though they'd gone down probably no more than about 600m away as the bird flies, seawall roads don't allow for much choice of direction and the ones currently on offer were of no help at all. So after touring the district I edged along the narrow road between the fields hoping they hadn't moved.

They were active and wide ranging, this is the only shot showing them together. One is very obviously paler than the other, convenient for keeping track of which is which as they move around the fields, but more unusually it also has a clearly noticeable primary extension which is at odds with descriptions I've read of the species. 

The primary extension is clearly noticeable, the primary projection itself is longer than typical for the species.

The darker bird with a shorter primary projection and no extension.

The expected short projection clearly visible. 

Though the overall pattern of the greater coverts, median coverts and tertials always seems the same 'oak-leaf' pattern there is more variation in the lesser coverts, some have a distinct 'oak-leaf' pattern while others only very slight or a broad even fringe. This bird is 'oak-leaf' throughout.    

The paler bird has broad even fringes on many lesser coverts with only a very slight indication of 'oak-leaf' on some. 

 

The paler of the two with a quite pale Far Eastern. They aren't called Little Curlew for no reason!

The darker of the two with it Far Eastern dark counterpart.

The two Far Easterns together.

Early November in Mie

The day before I drove to Saitama to see the Wood Warbler I was birding in Mie, the usual Tsu / Matsusaka area. Since my previous visit a couple of weeks earlier duck numbers were up but still well below winter peaks. Perhaps sea ducks are a little slower arriving but this isn't an important area for them and numbers never impressive. I didn't see any Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneye or scoters, the former is common in winter, Goldeneye is only ever present in low numbers and the scoters aren't even regular. The first Eastern Buzzard had arrived, Northern Goshawk and Eurasian Sparrowhawk both put in an appearance adding to the sense of seasonal change. Daurian Redstarts were common and there were even a few Dusky Thrushes. Dusky Thrush is never occurs in big numbers until later in the winter, presumably they drift in as the real winter weather bites elsewhere. On the wader front wintering Long-billed Dowitchers were in (only three but that's as good as it usually gets), Northern Grenshanks can be seen throughout winter but a Spotted Redshank was the first for a while, likewise three Wood Sandpipers. A couple of lingering Barn Swallows were keeping low as if not wanting to advertise they weren't where they ought to be by now.

The first Eastern Buzzard I've seen in the area this "winter".

Juvenile Northern Goshawk.

Lunchtime; the agony of choice.

Northern Lapwing; part of a flock of 31.

Northern Greenshank; numbers vary winter to winter but their favourite high-water roost site doesn't seem to.

Short- and medium-billed Far Eastern Curlews, no monsters today.

Wood Sandpipers.

Heading out with the tide; the birds too.

Great White Egret numbers seem a little down and Little on the up, more of a balance. Cattle were still present on 8 Oct but none by the 21st, Intermediate are still hanging. I've only ever seen one mid-winter Cattle but Intermediate is more likely.

Great White Egret.

Intermediate Egret.

So often spoonbills either have their bill hidden under their wing or under the water. So it was nice to see this one catching the evening sun as it flew in.

Immature Eurasian Spoonbill.

curlews... Far Eastern and Eurasian in Mie

I remember having difficulty separating the two large curlews at long range when I first came to Japan. I focused too much on the front end thinking Far Eastern was longer-billed. Probably only adult females actually stand out from Eurasian as freakishly long-billed; immatures can look surprisingly short-billed. I now know the back end is a far more reliable guide no matter how distant the bird may be.


I picked up a line of nine curlews on a distant sandbar in Mie yesterday, effectively they were tiny dots against the last narrow strip of sand the incoming tide hadn't washed over. Even through the scope no details could be made out but one of them seemed white on the lower belly. Surely a Eurasian with eight Far Eastern. Some Far Eastern are paler than others but I've yet to see a white one and after waiting till the water pushed them off the white rump confirmed what I'd expected.


Later in a different area, as the tide began to drop again, I was sifting through a flock of Red-necked Stints when heard curlew flighting in across the submerged flats. A party of 13 curlew circled several times before settling right in front of me. Presumably the previous group had picked up a couple more birds along the way, there were now 12 Far Eastern and a Eurasian.

Even head-on there's a hint of the white flanks on the Eurasian, off-setting the flank streaks.

A few waders in Mie and Kyushu

I hinted in the previous post Nordmann's Greenshank post that some waders have been more cooperative recently and here are a few shots of a few of those birds.

LRP

LRP

Greater Sand Plover

Whimbrel

Far Eastern Curlew

Far Eastern Curlew. You might be forgiven for thinking this is a Whimbrel at first glance because of the short bill and what appears to be a latteral crown stripe.

Common Redshank

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Grey-tailed Tattler

Grey-tailed Tattler

Terek Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Red-necked Stint

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Broad-billed Sandpiper