Pied Stilt and chick

Blipmate and I were bemoaning the absence of pied stilt chicks this year. We are usually guided by shouted alarm calls and adults flying at us trying to chase us away, but there was none of that this year - until today.

As I walked the inlet path, the pied stilts got agitated and loud and some took to the sky flying directly at me. A good sign but I hunted for the little fluffy chicks without success.

Once home and with photos on the computer I could see that indeed there was a chick, but a much older teenage looking one which was great because I had never seen them at that stage before.

There is another pic of the pair in the extras and they are improved in large.

As you can see, chick is smaller than the adult, has different coloured feathers on the back and the feathers up the back of the neck are just starting to darken.