Grey-tailed Tattler

The last two posts featured rare visitors to the Gippsland Lakes, the Eastern Curlew and Lesser Sand Plover. This post features another rare visitor, the Grey-tailed Tattler.

Late one afternoon while surveying a small tern breeding colony we found a single Tattler alone on the shore of one of the islands in Lake Tyers near the ocean beach entrance.

Grey-tailed Tattlers are migrant shorebirds which breed along stony riverbeds in the mountains of north-east Siberia and migrate to southern China, south-east Asia, New Guinea and Australia. Grey-tailed Tattlers are found in coastal and near coastal habitats – they do not range far inland.

Grey-tailed Tattlers are very similar to Wandering Tattlers, however the latter are much less common in Australia. They are mainly found along the Queensland and northern NSW coasts whereas the Grey-tails can be found right around the Australian coastline though they are much more common in the north. You can see a couple of photos of a Wandering Tattler here: http://avithera.blogspot.com/2016/11/coral-cay-island-birds-great-barrier_22.html

When first sighted, the Grey-tailed Tattler was some distance away and we were looking directly into the sun to observe the bird. The poor views however were just good enough to indicate this bird was not one of the more familiar shorebirds in our area so a closer look and photos were required to confirm a tentative Tattler ID. Given the sandy/muddy exposed flats of the saline lake the bird was unlikely to be the much rarer Wandering Tattler which tend to inhabit rocky shorelines. So, I back tracked and waded out to a closer position with a better sun angle for some photos to ID the bird.

Fortunately, as I slowly approached in stages the lone bird stayed on the sand spit by the water’s edge. A couple of times the bird called and looked like it might fly however it settled each time. The call was a two-note whistle which was another indication that this was a Grey-tail and not a Wandering Tattle which has a rippling trill of 6 to 10 notes.

Eventually I arrived at the birds FID (flight initiation distance) but close enough for some photos.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

The Grey-tailed Tattler on the end of the sand spit where we found it.

As I slowly approached the bird moved a little but did not fly.

The Tattler kept a close eye on me.

A full side on view - the tail tip and ends of primary flight feathers are about equal - the wing tips of the Wanderer extend well beyond the end of its tail.

My last photo of the Tattler.

After this photo, I moved slowly away leaving the bird in peace, pleased I could approach without the bird taking flight, pleased the ID of this unusual visitor was confirmed and pleased I had some photos.