ML84734301

Age and sex

Juvenile, Unknown sex - X

Tags

Field notes/sketch; No bird

Media notes

Notes with sketches from 1977

Observation details

I was an 11 year old when these notes were done. I make no mention of there being two birds present together, when in fact there were! (The notes were written purely for myself to document how the species was identified). Junior Costello and I dubiously walked across deep mudflats at low tide almost filling our boots! It so happened that exactly where we randomly came onto the Salicornia-dominated saltflats of the Island, we flushed a pair of shorebirds that did not fly very far away. We knew they were something different. It turned out the birds were very tame and permitted us to approach them and follow them around within a few feet for extended looks! By the extent of their bright buff coloration below etc we soon realized they were Buff-breasted Sandpipers, and that they were rare migrants, and were extremely pleased with ourselves that WE found them, and they were life birds, and thankful for we could have missed them had we walked a few meters either left or right of them! We were able to flag down a passing birder who informed us that they had in fact been found/seen by others a day or two before us, but their whereabouts had been lost. So, we were a little deflated by that news, but were still really pleased for having found and correctly identified them by ourselves nonetheless!

Technical information

Model

iPhone 6 Plus

Lens

iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2

ISO

64

Focal length

4.2 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/2.2

Shutter speed

1/15 sec

Dimensions

640 pixels x 348 pixels

Original file size

74.15 KB