I flew to Sydney on 11 January. The bird had not been seen for several days, despite people looking for it on at least two days. I thought I'd probably miss out but it was certainly worth a go.
I flew to Sydney, picked up a hire car, drove to Captain Cook Drive, parked opposite the skate park. Arrived at 9.30. Walked up and down the beach. Tide was wrong and there were few waders. I'd been told the optimum tide would be about noon. The bird had been seen associating with Red-capped Plovers.
Some time after noon, I found a flock of Red-capped Plovers and my heart leapt. I examined each bird in the flock. I think there were 13. But no Kentish Plover.
By 1 o'clock I'd decided the Kentish Plover had moved on. I'd visited all the spots where the bird had been seen.
I decided to walk further up the beach. I knew the bird would not be there because there were lots of noisy kids and dogs. But I had nothing better to do until my flight home.
Suddenly, in the midst of the noisiest part of the beach, there was a different wader. I had thought it would look very like a Red-capped Plover. (My early bird books regard the Kentish Plover as a race of the Red-capped.) But it did not. It was much paler and easily identified. A successful twitch is always a good feeling. But this dear little bird felt particularly good because I'd been sure that I'd missed out.
A wonderful start to 2020!
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| Kentish Plover |
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| Kentish Plover |
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