This juvie Baird's was on the beach earlier this week, it's the closest I've come to seeing a Buff-breasted Sandpiper this year. In the past I've usually either had Buff-breasted on calm sunny days in August or brisk-strong N wind days in September. The Baird's appeared on a brisk N wind.
Here it found some micro something or another to eat.
Note the pale scalloping to the scapulars marking this bird as a juvie. The long wings that extend past the tail eliminate all other peeps except the fairly dissimilar White-rumped. The bird has a more cleanly cut off buffy breast than does Semi-palmated in addition to a slightly heavier and more drooped bill.
I don't see Baird's in the water very often, this day there was a large puddle on the upper stretch of the beach where it was foraging on a fairly gusty day.
I had hoped to do a pelagic today but the storm and rain put a pretty emphatic crimp on those plans.
No comments:
Post a Comment