Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii at Kanosia lagoon - first record for the New Guinea region

Abstract

Four members of the Papua New Guinea Bird Society (myself, Roger Hicks, and Joan & Michael Oliver) were investigating Kanosia Lagoon, Central Province, on 24 November 1985, to see what migrant species were being attracted by the drying out process that was leaving extensive area of oozy mud with scattered drier islands and shallow pools. I saw a wader feeding in the company of a party of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and one Marsh Sandpiper. The bird was obviously different and was thought to be a Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii, although the species had not previously been recorded in the New Guinea region before. Two observers studied the wader for over twenty minutes taking detailed notes, and sketching the bird in the field.