Buff-bellied Pipit. What a great bird. ^^

I managed to get what is currently my best and most endearing photo of a Buff-bellied Pipit.

It was moving through gaps in the grass and peering into cracks in the ground as it searched for small insects.

I thought I had a clean full-body shot, but grass was overlapping in the foreground. Still, the long, straight hind-claw — a key feature of the Buff-bellied Pipit — was visible. It helps with identification, though if you can see the claw clearly enough, you could probably identify the bird by other means too. ^^;

The majority of the flock is Red-throated Pipits.

A few Water Pipits were mixed in as well.

Yellow Wagtail (subspecies taivana), adult winter plumage. Around ten birds — juveniles and adults together — were moving as a group.