WHAT BIRD IS THAT?

Yes I know it’s not a great photo but I snapped it this morning on Gerroa beach. It appeared last week and has caused interest among the locals. Some say it’s a Sandpiper, others, a Godwit. My vote is Bob-tailed Godwit. It appears to fit the profile of the picture on Google images.

The Bob-tailed Godwit is mottled upper with dull white under wings, with a slightly upturned bill to fossick for molluscs, worms and aquatic insects.

It breeds in Scandanavia, northern Europe and Alaska so we feel rather privilged that it made the journey to our beach.