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The Long-Toed Stint Erolia Subminuta in Southern Victoria by F

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The Long-Toed Stint Erolia Subminuta in Southern Victoria by F 132 SMITH, Long-toed Stint [ Bird Watcher The middle of the week, then, when the"birds died, was a time of extremely dense fog over Corio and Port Phillip Bays. The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works Farm near Werribee is a well favoured roosting haunt of the Straw-necked Ibis. Each evening, flocks of birds return to the swamps to roost after spending all day feeding in the adjacent pasture lands. They become a familiar sight to travellers along the Princes Highway, and on the Bellarine Peninsula many flocks of birds feed each day. During the week of fog, Ibis were seen as usual on the Bellarine Peninsula, but presumably because of the fog, they were forced in some instances to roost in trees around Drysdale where they had not previously done so. This was noted by a Drysdale resident, Mr. B. Crowe, who remarked that the birds "appeared lost", and they were seen to roost in a pine tree on his proper,~y for the first time. The possibility that the birds had died after feeding on sprayed insects or insect larvae is always present. However to have such a large group of birds die virtually simultaneously is not very likely. unless there had been a very heavy aerial spraying just prior to the birds feeding, but this would be impossible as the lack of suitable aircraft flying conditions at this time would prevent such a spraying. I believe that the birds became confused in the fog, and that they either mistook the waters of the Bay for their more familiar swamps and landed confidently in deep water, or they accidentally came down in the Bay. The fact that Herons, Magpies, Ravens and a Kite were with them gives strength to the latter suggestion. The seabirds, Gulls and Cormorants, would probably be incidental to the others, as these species are not infrequently found washed onto these shores. The Long-toed Stint Erolia subminuta in Southern Victoria By F. T. H. SMITH, Kew, Victoria. The Metropolitan Farm begins approximately 20 miles south­ west of Melbourne, and continues for another ten miles in a southerly direction. This huge sewerage farm has several miles of sewage treatment ponds, some of which are straight-edged and deep, and are relatively unattractive to waders, whilst others are shallow and have well vegetated margins. To these latter ponds, each year, come large numbers of the migratory Charadriiformes. The more common of these waders, Sharp-tailed Sand pipers Erolia acuminata, Curlew-Sandpipers E. ferruginea and Red-necked Stints E. ruficollis, usually occur in thousands, with lesser numbers of several other species. In this area ornithological rarities have appeared from time to time. It is, in fact, so vast, the habitat so varied, and the waders in such large numbers, that birds unusual to Australia, vagrants and the like, are with little doubt missed by observers each year. December J SMITH, Long-toed Stint 133 1968 One of the best feeding areas for big concentrations of waders during the migratory wader season, August 1965 to April 1966, was a long sewage pond running south from the main treatment lagoon, known as Lake Borrie. This particular pond was bordered on the east side by a wide, raised gravel roadway; the western margin being muddy and pro­ fusely over-grown by many varieties of mostly introduced weeds. In the pond were several flat muddy islets, some small, others covering a considerable area. The islets were sparsely vegetated with green weeds and littered with vegetable debris, such as pieces of stems and leaves which were mixed with and protruding from the mud. Some of the islets met the edge of the gravel roadway in places. On January 9, 1966, R . T. Sympson and I walked along the road­ way observing the many bird species in the vicinity. Just after 11 a.m. a group of some 20 small waders flew up from a small area of the wide muddy edge adjoining the roadway, and came down again in a similar position a short distance farther away. Close examination of the birds revealed Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and a much smaller wader. The small bird was nearer the size of a Red-necked Stint but, obviously, was not that species. After some manoeuvring we reached an excellent observation position on the road, approximately 35 feet from the bird. The little wader, which was in full sunlight, stood at rest on one leg. We were not able immediately to determine the leg colour as it was shaded by the bird's body. In general appearance it was rather greyish all-over, being much darker above. There was a broad greyish band across the breast. The head seemed small and rounded with a short, fine, black bill. Shortly the retracted leg was put down in sunlight showing it to be greenish-yellow in colour. For nearly an hour we watched the bird closely with 8 x 40, 10 x 50 and 15 x 50 binoculars, during which time much written informa­ tion was recorded. The bird stood quietly in an open position on the damp, almost solid mud. The vegetation on the muddy-edge consisted mainly of sparsely distributed seedling plants, up to six inches high, of ink­ weed Phytolacca octandra and fat-hen Chenopodium album, with dead pieces of various weeds scattered about. It then walked a few inches, showing the yellowish leg colouring to advantage, and then stood still again on one leg, for a few minutes. The toes of the folded leg hung loosely below the body and showed them to be remarkably slender in appearance, with the middle toe noticeably longer than the others. Once it turned its back to us and stretched the left wing full out and down, showing some white tipping across the greater wing-coverts, which gave the impression of a fi ne white line across the wing. The left leg was extended backwards, towards us, revealing the widely separated, long, thin toes. The Sharp-tailed Sandpipers gradually left the area, leaving the small wader alone. It was keeping a wary eye on us, but soon began 134 SMITH, Long-toed Stint [ Bird Watcher to feed over the islet and along the edges. Its feeding posture was crouched and hunched, but sometimes it raised its head to watch us. It moved about slowly, picking here and there and looking some­ what mouse-like. This illusion was heightened by the general duski­ ness and hunched posture. A few times it went on the long-legged, long-necked alert and then seemed considerably larger. In this stance it resembled a small Pectoral Sandpiper Erolia melanotos, even to the fairly sharp cut-off of the greyish breast-band from the whitish under parts. Sometimes it went behind small plants where it was seen to stretch upright and peer at us over a plant, or through gaps between the higher leaves. It watched us for a few seconds and then relaxed, coming out feeding into the open again. Suddenly, it would crouch right down in small depressions, or among short weeds, where it disappeared from our view for seconds at a time. Once it went into a small area of fat-hen, where it turned and faced us, on a tiny patch of mud. Putting its breast to the ground, with its rear section slightly elevated, it remained in this position for several minutes. Although completely unobscured in this atti­ tude it, nevertheless, blended well with the surroundings, and was most inconspicuous. This action is used, apparently, when tempor­ arily concealing itself from danger. We were to see it demonstrated again later, at Lake Murcteduke. Although we were in full view the little wader was not too appre­ hensive, and mostly fed and rested in front of us unconcernedly. We were now almost satisfied that the bird was a Long-toed Stint, and later we were certain of this conclusion after confirma­ tion from literature. Sympson remarked that it was a pity that there was not a Red­ necked Stint nearby, with which to compare the rarer stint. He had no sooner spoken when in came a Red-necked Stint and alighted on the mud near the Long-toed Stint. Soon both birds were close together, and extremely good comparative views were obtained. Once the Long-toed Stint flew up from near the Red-necked Stint and then dropped down on that bird, striking it sharply with its feet. The attacker then moved away feeding, and the Red-necked Stint remained as if nothing of great moment had occurred. In the crouched position subminuta seemed slightly smaller than ruficollis. It was duskier generally, particularly about the head, face and sides of the neck. The bill was shorter and finer in appearance when compared with that of ruficollis, and the greenish-yellow legs of the former stood out from the black legs of the latter. Without any warning the Long-toed Stint flew off rapidly in an erratic manner. It called as it went, a loud "Chee-chee-chee", a few times. We lost sight of it and did not relocate it that day. During this encounter, when the bird was on the upright alert, it brought to mind the Buff-breasted Sandpiper Tryngites subruficollis. Possibly December ] SMITH, Long-toed Stint 135 1968 this was due to the small, somewhat rounded head, the short dark bill, the yellowish legs and the alert stance being similar to Tryn­ gites. When relaxed it was more like a miniature Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in the non-breeding plumage. With F. Anderson and H. E.
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