All alone

The tide time drew me down to Southend of Snells Beach this morning; 1000 seemed to be the right time after high tide for the waders to be present. Yes and no.

I got quite close to a tuturiwhatu (dotterel), which was the only one I saw. Normally, I see at least two as the mating pair come together. This one being on its own suggests that nesting is under way. On a number of occasions while I watched it and took some photos, it startled as a big dog barked about 100 m away. It kept feeding however, so I suspect it is taking food back to the nest.

Before I saw the tuturiwhatu, I had seen one kuaka, and then two more; the extra photo is of one of those two. It was disturbed by the loud voices of a small group paddling out through the shallows, and being excited by the large number of cockles they thought they might harvest. Although there may be fewer kuaka this year than previous years, normally there are at least a score to be seen. Just three this morning, not sure why.