A visit to Lignum Swamp early today produced a new species for my local list, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata. I spotted four of these small waders, poking about on the exposed mud at the northern end of the swamp, amongst the dotterels, crakes and stilts.
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Lignum Swamp, 25th August 2011
‘Sharpies’ are remarkable birds, like many migratory waders they move between the southern and northern hemispheres annually. Sharp-tailed Sandpipers breed in north-east Siberia over the northern summer and then travel south in large flocks, arriving in Australia from mid-August onwards. Huge numbers of birds arrive together, with one record of 25,000 arriving in one night at Broome. Their main haunts in Victoria are coastal wetlands and embayments, but small numbers of birds are regularly found across the inland when conditions suit.
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers feeding at Lignum Swamp
Many of the waders are tricky to identify and I see them so rarely these days that I had to stop and think for a few moments before confirming their identification. With our local wetlands gradually drying out they are providing ideal conditions for waders so it will be no surprise to encounter more ‘sharpies’ and related species over the next few months.
'Sharpies' feeding in the shallows
Natural Newstead 