The Holy Grail for me of Aussie shorebirds. This had always been at the top of the pile for Australian waders, although this interest was fuelled further when a good friend and ex-pat Aussie birder kept dropping the odd comment that after 5 or 6 years on Antipodean soil this was his favourite Aussie bird. I had only seen my first a few days earlier on a night safari for Plains Wanderer near Deniliquin. There is something though about seeing birds like these in some of the harshest desert environments that gives them an edge. This one was sitting out on the massive expanse of gibber plains that dominate the landscape on this part of the Birdsville Track. We had literally driven through non-stop gibber for around 300km by the time we ran into a few of these smart waders hanging out in this dry and parched country. They have an amazing ability to blend into the dry gravel roads so that, like this one, you can almost drive right over one before you realize it is even there.