Broad-billed Sandpipers and another Little Stint

I love wader passage season, there's always the chance of something really out of the ordinary turning up, it's on a par with a seabirding on the Pacific route ferries or an off-shore island stay. Except there's no need to invest as much time or money, it's so easily doable in a spare day.


Last Friday I did the rounds of the Matsusaka / Tsu wader spots, some of them at least. Driving across overnight I was in my usual state of expectation, running through the identification features to separate tricky specks miles out on the mudflats... Baird's and White-rumped, Semi-P and Western, Eskimo and Slender-billed. I know, I know, a tad over-optimistic when you consider Semi-P isn't even on the Japan list.


In the two weeks since my previous visit the place has changed almost beyond recognition, gone is the huge expanse of flooded rice fields, all is stubble now and bone dry. Birdwise there are pros and cons to the change, it suits Skylarks just fine but what about the Zitting Cisticolas, they were so common last time I was there and they've all but disappeared. Likewise I'm split, I miss the extensive greenery on one hand but on the other I feel it might be easier to find something unusual out in the open. Not that this makes any sense as previous years don't back it up the notion of better birds on the open fields, but anyway, a Dotterel would be nice!


Tides are really important of course and their timing dictates whether you'll have the light as a help or hinderance across this estuary of that tidal flat. But also water levels on ponds and on the fields are crucial and sometimes you can drive round all day without finding the sweet spot that's pulling in the birds. This visit was lucky in that regard and it was one of the standard must-visit sites that held a selection of twelve species. The highlights were the two Broad-billed Sandpipers and Little Stint of the title. The former is a scarce passage bird and I don't expect to see more than one or two per migration season and when numbers are that low it's possible to go a long time without a decent view. The latter I always regarded as a rarity in Japan but this is the fifth I've found here in about three years so I'm coming round to the idea that it's been long overlooked rather than rare.


The birds were at a nice distance for observation, unconcerned by my presence and near enough to see well, unfortunately just a little too far for photography with my kit so most of these images had to be cropped more heavily than I'd have wished.

Little Stint. This last shot was taken at midday, the bird was a little closer but the sun was less helpful. Interestingly the 20 something Red-necked Stints I saw were altogether on a different pond.

Like the Stint the two Broad-billed Sandpipers stuck to the same small section of mud throughout the day, other waders used the whole expanse of the pond, not that it was very large.

Other wader species included...

Black-tailed Godwit

Common Redshank, one of five, with Marsh Sandpiper.

Grey-tailed Tattler with Black-tailed Godwit.

Several Marsh Sandpipers showed a good range of plumage.

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

27 wader species, Mie

I still failed to find a rare wader but with 27 species on view around Matsusaka last Sunday it would be churlish to complain. The additional four species I saw last week plus another (Ruff) I heard about mid-week show what a first rate site this is for waders. In fact my three recent visits (August 13, 24 and 31) produced a very impressive 32 species.

As usual I arrived early and got an hour sleep on the seawall and a large coffee or two from a convenience store before dawn. High tide wasn't until 9am but by the time there was enough light exposed mud was all but gone, so I spent the morning checking ponds and fields before turning to tidal areas from about noon.

Black-tailed Godwit was the first new wader for the month. Seven birds, and later grew to eight, were in a tight group on one of the deeper pools loved by the Stilts. Nearby a tight group of 11 Greenshank briefly gave the appearance of two constellations on the still, featureless grey water reflecting the overcast morning sky before they began feeding and merged. The forecast was for rain. The early light wasn't good for digiscoping and the shots below were the best I was able to get.

Black-tailed Godwits waking up and starting to feed. 

A mixed group of Black-tailed Godwits and Common Greenshank with a couple of Marsh Sandpipers and the odd passing Black-winged Stilt.

Finding Pacific Golden Plover on the fields is always a matter of luck, the area is is vast. They are still easier than any potential creeping Long-toed Stint or skulking snipe. I almost drove by these ones that coincided with a brief sunny spell. Wood Sandpiers are normally the most conspicuous of the waders on flooded fields and it's surprising that I only found one in three visits.

High tide seemed to last an age but once it did begin to drop mud rapidly re-emerged and quickly pushed far out into the bay. Waders appeared as if by magic and with each sweep of the flats while trying to count the birds present, I'd pick out something different. Though the variety of species was excellent the number of individuals for most species was low. Just single Turnstone and Dunlin, a lone Long-toed Stint and only a couple of Red-necked. Four Broad-billed Sandpipers was good though, how often do they outnumber Dunlin! Low counts for Sanderling and Kentish Plover is more down to not visiting their favourite locations, the same is arguably true for Lesser Sand Plover but you can't visit the many good locations at the same advantageous time on a rising or falling tide.

Distance is often the problem, this was the closest of the four Broad-bills.

By far the most numerous birds at present were Terek Sandpipers and Grey-tailed Tattlers. How many times have I been here and not seen any? The unpredictability is unquestionably part of the allure of wader hunting in the area.

List of species seen
Eurasian Wigeon   1
Mallard   2
Eastern Spot-billed Duck   very common
Eurasian Teal   5
Common Pochard   3
Little Grebe   common
Cattle Egret   100+
Grey Heron   common
Great White Egret   common
Intermediate Egret   30+
In general egret numbers (apart from Cattle) seemed down this week but flocks move locally as the intensity of rice harvest shifts from place to place.
Great Cormorant   very common
Osprey   6-7
Black Kite   several
Peregrine   1
Moorhen   1
(Eastern) Oystercatcher   10
Black-winged Stilt   c30
Grey-headed Lapwing   4
Pacific Golden Plover   17
Grey Plover   20
Little Ringed Plover   1
Kentish Plover   fairly common
Lesser Sand Plover   several
Common Snipe   6
Black-tailed Godwit   8
Bar-tailed Godwit   1
Eurasian Curlew   1
Far Eastern Curlew   5
Marsh Sandpiper   2
Common Greenshank   21+
Green Sandpiper   2
Grey-tailed Tattler   1000+
Terek Sandpiper   100s
Common sandpiper   c15
Turnstone   1
Great Knot   10
Red Knot   2
Sanderling   2
Red-necked Stint   8-12
Long-toed Stint   1
Dunlin   1
Broad-billed Sandpiper   4
Black-tailed Gull   very common
Slaty-backed Gull   5
Feral rock Dove
Oriental Turtle Dove   common
Bull-headed Shrike   1 heard
Carrion Crow
Large-billed Crow
Sand Martin   4-5
Barn Swallow   fairly common but in far lower numbers than last week
Japanese Skylark   2
Zitting Cisticola   many still singing
Brown-eared Bulbul
White-cheeked Starling   common but noticeably fewer than the huge numbers last week
Blue Rock Thrush   1 heard
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
White Wagtail   a few
Meadow Bunting   4-5