Saw three of these today by Grahamstown Dam, near Raymond Terrace, NSW. My best guess at the moment is they were Pacific Golden Plovers, but I'm not 100% convinced. The birds I saw had longer tails than the pictures/photos in my books. They bobbed their tails up and down as they moved about - does this help ID them?
Australasian Pipit, Anthus novaeseelandiae. That bobbing movement is characteristic.
Still classified as Richard's Pipit by some taxonomic authorities.
Ah! Many thanks, Marj. I was way off.