This is one bird I never expected to see, let alone only 30 minutes from home at Lake Murdeduke, Ombersley. I was camped near Portland in western Victoria spotlighting for owls when the word went out. After very little luck on the Owls, we made a quick dash home through 2 hours of solid rain, arriving at nearly 2am Friday the 20th of January 2017. It was agreed we would each go to our homes for a quick rest and meet up again at 7:00am to be there by 7:30.
Once we got to the lake the crowd was already gathering. And the familiar twitcher faces began to appear. Like a who’s who of twitchers. About 30 people in all and we were all rewarded. After a little bit of searching the bird turning up right where we had been seen the previous day. It was a great relief and plenty of smiling faces celebrating this milestone, as it was a lifer (new species) for just about everyone there. From that day the bird known as Buffy was seen many times, almost as often as it was looked for. The last time being 17th of March 2017. So it was around for roughly 2 months.
2 months and a gazillion photos were taken.
Buff-brested Sandpiper:
The Buff-brested Sandpiper is a North American Shorebird
Buff-brested Sandpiper:
Buff-brested Sandpiper: ne of the last sightings of this rather spectacular little bird.
Picnic Table Effect:
What is the picnic table effect?
Definition: A birdwatcher term where there has been a rare bird sighting with a subsequent influx of birdwatchers, that resulted in further discoveries of other rare birds in that area.
Here are some cracking examples of that exact thing happening here at Lake Murderduke.
Long-toed Stint: Very rare in Victoria. Only reported ever few years or so.
Little Curlew: Extremely rare in Vic. Almost as rare as the Buff-breasted Sandpiper.
Ruff: Another rare beauty. Only seen in Vic once every few years or so
Pectoral Sandpiper: Becoming mose previlent in recent years, but still uncommon.
Colac Birder 