Wader enthusiasts may be interested in this post.

On my most recent trip to southern Africa I came across the 'bible' of southern African waders, Chamberlain's Waders - The definitive guide to Southern African shorebirds.  This 250 page book is the most comprehensive guide to waders I have ever come across.  While it is obviously focused on species occurring in southern Africa it is also quite useful for Australian birdwatchers.  There is a good degree of overlap between the migratory species in southern Africa and Australia, and even where the species are different, the ID information is quite useful because the species are quite similar structurally (eg oystercatchers, thick-knees etc).  The amount of detail about identifying features to look for in the field, the plumage of different ages of birds and at different times in the season etc is exceptional.  There is also a lot of background information about things like migratory paths, conservation status etc which is of interest to anyone who want's to know more about waders, as well as good advice about how to birdwatch waders.

The definition of 'wader' adopted is quite broad.  The author focuses on the order Charadriiformes which technically includes several types of 'wader' not normally associated with that name.  It covers :  Sheathbills (vagrant in southern Africa); Thick-knees; Oystercatchers; Avocets and Stilts; Tundra Plovers (the Pluvialis plovers eg Grey); Small Plovers (eg sand plovers, ringed plovers); Lapwings; Painted-snipes; Jacanas;  Curlews and Whimbrels; Godwits; Calidrids (eg stints, Sanderlings, Ruff); Snipes; Phalaropes; Tringas and Shanks (eg Greenshanks, Common and Terek Sandpiper); Buttonquails; Crab-plover; Coursers; and Pratincoles.

Details of the book can be found here:  https://faansiepeacock.com/waders-book/.  Peacock is the author, Chamberlain's is a hardware business that sponsored the book.  I am not sure whether this web site still works as a sale point - and note, South Africa's postal service is best avoided.  A bird guide told us that it is difficult to get, but I found mine when casually browsing in a book shop at a local Botanic Gardens near Cape Town, which had several copies for the equivalent of about $35.  At this price it was a no-brainer for me.  It seems to be available for overseas purchase in Buteo Books in the US (buteobooks.com) and Wildsounds in the UK (wildsounds.com) - although delivery charges seem a bit steep.  Amazon sells it, but at a totally ridiculous price.

Simon