Asian Dowitcher (2/7)

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CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae

Limnodromus semipalmatus  

This was the last day of our holiday in North Queensland and we had just arrived in Cairns from Mission Beach. We had an hour to kill before driving to the airport for our flight home.

I was at the North end of the Esplanade and had just witnessed a Beach Stone-curlew catch a large mud crab when I saw these two birds that just looked a bit different. The bill was straight and black and the tip was a little swollen. There was a prominent white eyebrow easily visible on the bird facing towards me.

My bird books were all packed and the only thought I had was Bar-tailed Godwit but the bill was not right.

When I got back to Brisbane there was a report on Eremaea of two Asian Dowitchers on the north end of the Esplanade that day and I realised that that was all that they could have been.