Shorebird School 2

Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia

Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia

Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos

Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos

American Golden-Plover Pluvialis dominica

Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla

Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla

Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularia (left)

Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria (right)

Great Egret Ardea alba

juvenile Sparrow...Song or Swamp?

RN de Pointe-Yamachiche

  Another weekend morning jaunt up the north shore to Yamachiche with George. There was decent turnover in the past week, both on the beach and in the woods. We ended up with a nice round 40 species, and a touch of the warbler neck. Oddly, the Magnolia Warbler we spotted was a first of year for me — I saw not a single one in the odd, protracted migration we had this spring.

  Bird of the day for me was a Caspian Tern, somehow my first. Lovely bird! The famous one-legged American Golden-Plover was still there, hopping around the shoreline.

  There was some confusion when a medium-small shorebird landed on the beach in terrible backlighting…it was almost pure silhouette at first. The stark breast band stood out, and I had it pegged as a Pectoral Sandpiper (America Mechuragi Doyo), but one of the shorebird pros called it as a Stilt Sandpiper. I’m kind of disappointed with myself for ignoring the breast band and initially going along with the call — I’m just not super confident with shorebirds, and fatigue, lighting, and confirmation bias did the rest. All in all though, I did feel a lot more solid with shorebirds.

  After I wrote that last glib sentence, I began to stare at the pics of the Semipalms I took. Why are they so brown? Is…is that a hint of green-yellow on the legs? Are these…could they actually be…Leasts? Frantically checks five field guides, before accepting the authoritative illustrations in the superb Collins Europe guide. OK wait, they’re Semipalms after all. So…never mind, turns out I still know nothing about shorebirds after all. Time to do some more homework.

A Copper Age Journey

  Another 'bedtime story for adults' I wrote recently went live on Relax Melodies (Bettersleep). I was inspired by the life of Ötzi the Iceman for this one. There are birds in it, I promise. Click here for more info on Relax Melodies.

Shorebird School

Bonaparte’s Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia

White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis

White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis (front)
Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla
(Note difference in size, wing length, flank streaking...)

Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla

Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus

Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus

Sanderling Calidris alba

Sanderling Calidris alba

American Golden-Plover Pluvialis dominica

Wilson’s Snipe Gallinago delicata

Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes

Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus

  Went with George up to RN de Pointe-Yamachiche yesterday, where there’s been some interesting shorebird action of late. I’ve never been a shorebird whiz, although I encountered my share of waders in Korea. My Canadian shorebird game is even weaker, so I’d planned on boning up before the trip. Unfortunately I passed out last night before I could do my homework, so I was woefully underprepared when it came to basic stuff like leg colour, leg spur vs. none, etc. Nothing like shorebirds to make you feel like a newbie. It’s humbling, and refreshing.

  I had my nose in my Sibley’s for much of our time on the beach, and I felt like I learned a lot yesterday.  Hopefully from now on I’ll be able to separate Leasts from Semipalms, and White-rumped from Sanderlings. Unless of course, my shorebird factoids are stored in the same brain coil as warbler songs, in which case they’ll be flushed down the crapper within months, and I’ll have to re-learn it all again next year. Learning is fun, so I’m cool with that. Being a goldfish isn’t so bad.

  We had nine shorebird species to puzzle through, and ended up with a species count in the mid-40s. It was weird seeing Sanderlings in something besides winter plumage (like in Korea). We both got lifers on the day, good times.