Pictures: Teus Luijendijk

22 August 2005, Wagejot, Texel NH

22 August 2005, Wagejot, Texel NH

Most reports of this species usually refer to moulting Little Stints C. minuta, but this bird obviously was an exception. As it allowed fairly close observation (in the famous pond of Wagejot, which hosted a Red-necked Stint C. ruficollis only a few weeks before), identification was comparatively easy. The very bold black arrowhead markings on the more pointed scapulars alrady rule out any Little Stint, but all other characters were noted as well. I even noted the partial webbing between the central and inner toe, on the few occasions the bird was stretching itself. A hint of these palmations would also be visible when the bird was foraging in the muddy water, but this had little to do with the actual palmations themselves, but more with mud sticking to the toes. On the last of the pictures shown below, you can see the separate toes, but the palmations are still rather hard to discern.