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| Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia |
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| Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia |
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| Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos |
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| Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos |
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| American Golden-Plover Pluvialis dominica |
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| Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla |
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| Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla |
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Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius (left) Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria (right) |
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| Great Egret Ardea alba |
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juvenile Sparrow...Song or Swamp?
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| 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.
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