August 2 Email Message to Ric regarding July 31 sandpipers (posted below):
Here is our best picture of the Western Sandpiper. Our other pictures don't show as much
detail. We believe this bird is a perfect example of a Western
Sandpiper in transition between breeding plumage and winter plumage --
traces of chestnut may be noticed and breast streaks are beginning to
fade and shortening. The bill is thinner at the tip than at the base
with a slight droop. Also easily noticed is the dark back -- much
darker than all the other peeps observed side-by-side in real-life
(and even on the picture).
We've also attached our picture of the Baird's Sandpiper, which is
very bad and, in our opinion, mostly indistinguishable. The wing
feathers can still be noticed extending beyond the tail, and the legs
and rump are black.
Zachary and Nathan DeBruine
.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing your photos and reporting this sighting in a timely fashion! FYI, this top bird is a Least Sandpiper (probably juvenile), not a Western. Westerns are considerably paler-faced than this individual; this bird is too dark on the mantle and scapulars (and lacking the contrastingly rufous upper scapulars and grayer lower scapulars), and its bill is too thin and short. Finally, the legs appear to be yellow, not black.
Good Birding,
Caleb Putnam
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