Nature Black Fronted Dotterel

These little water birds are native to Australia and have been introduced in New Zealand. Very hard to get close to as they are very timid. They are clever as well - they even fake an injury to lure predators away from the baby's nest.

 

What a lovely capture. Very colorful, bright and excellently composed. Well done and many thanks for posting. Would like to know what gear was used for this beauty.
Cheers, Tony.

 

Cute little fellow, sort of reminds me of a pint sized plover.

 

Happy to share with you Tony and thanks for your lovely kind words.
Canon EOS 7D Mark II | Manual | f/8 | 1/250 sec | ISO 160 | 400 mm | Metering: Spot | -0.33 EV | Lens: TAMRON 18-400mm F/3.5-6.3

 

Thanks Craig, they are cute, I agree. They are a part of the bird family called Charadriidae which includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings, over 60 species I recall. I can see why you mentioned the plover. They are very similar to the common ringed plover.

 

Here's quite a few all at the edge of the lake. I've never seen so many all in one place.
This was when the water was getting really low but with record July and August rainfall the lake is now the fullest it has been in 20 years.

 

We have the spur winged plover down here.

 

Yeah, they are the ones with the yellow face I think also called lapwings.

 

Yeah, I think it's the same bird as I know them by there local name, the buggers will swoop the hell out of people and dogs when they have chicks.