Ruff (V)
| Photographed by | Michael Hamel-Green on Mon 23rd Mar, 2026 and uploaded on same date. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Resolution | 1299x1800 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Viewed | 106 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | 73443 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Comment | There has been much excitement amongst Werribee birdwatchers with the sighting of a Ruff over the past few days, generally in the company of two or three Sharp-tailed Sandpipers in one or other of the ponds at the T-Section Lagoon. As the ABG notes, Ruffs are “rare but annual migrants to Australia, mainly to freshwater wetlands”. In the company of the Sharp-tails, whom they closely resemble, they can easily be picked out by their larger size and unstreaked breast, as in the case of this one. I was fortunate to see it this morning amongst a bevy of fellow birders. They breed in Eurasia, Siberia and northwest Alaska. According to HANZAB, they generally visit Australia from September to April, returning to their breeding grounds from mid-February to May, so this one will probably be on its way back very soon. HANZAB notes that despite being a rare visitor, there have been regular sightings most years in one or other state. When I mentioned to a fellow birder this morning that I had never seen one before, he said I would be lucky to sight one in ten years. For Victoria, HANZAB only mentions a sighting at Corangamite in 1993, and says that there were only a “total of 37 recorded in regular summer surveys round Australia from 1981 to 1991, with a maximum of eight in any one year” (https://hanzab.birdlife.org.au/species/ruff/). So I certainly count myself lucky to have seen this one. . [This photo was subsequently confirmed on 31/3/261 as being a Ruff by the Birdata Data and Analytics Team and has been entered into the Birdata Survey (see Survey ID10528709)]. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Equipment | Exposure time : 1 / 3200 FNumber : 8 Focal Length : 600 ISO Speed Ratings : 1000 LensModel : NIKKOR Z 600mm f/6.3 VR S Make : NIKON CORPORATION Model : NIKON Z 8 Software : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 15.2.1 (Macintosh) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | T-Section Lagoon, Western Treatment Plant, Werribee, Victoria | ||||||||||||||||||
| Keywords | adult, non-breeding plumage/colours | ||||||||||||||||||
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| ApertureFNumber | COMPUTED | f/8.0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Make | IFD0 | NIKON CORPORATION | |||||||||||||||||
| Model | IFD0 | NIKON Z 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| Software | IFD0 | Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 15.2.1 (Macintosh) | |||||||||||||||||
| ExposureTime | EXIF | 1/3200 | |||||||||||||||||
| FNumber | EXIF | F8 | |||||||||||||||||
| ExposureProgram | EXIF | Aperture priority | |||||||||||||||||
| ISOSpeedRatings | EXIF | 1000 | |||||||||||||||||
| DateTimeOriginal | EXIF | 2026:03:23 09:28:16 | |||||||||||||||||
| ShutterSpeedValue (APEX 11.643856) | EXIF | 1/3200 | |||||||||||||||||
| ApertureValue (APEX 6) | EXIF | F8 | |||||||||||||||||
| ExposureBiasValue | EXIF | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| MeteringMode | EXIF | Pattern | |||||||||||||||||
| LightSource | EXIF | unknown | |||||||||||||||||
| Flash | EXIF | Flash did not fire. | |||||||||||||||||
| FocalLength | EXIF | 600mm | |||||||||||||||||
| ExposureMode | EXIF | Automatic Exposure | |||||||||||||||||
| WhiteBalance | EXIF | Automatic White Balance | |||||||||||||||||
| LensModel | EXIF | NIKKOR Z 600mm f/6.3 VR S | |||||||||||||||||
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