[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Curlew Sandpiper(s) at the beach



When I first saw Sharon's post, I thought a new
diked-in dredge spoil disposal impoundment had been
built at Huntington Beach.  Had I known that we would
be looking for Curlew Sandpiper on a shoreline of
beach sand and shells piled up a few hundred yards
from the open ocean, I wouldn't have made the trip.  I
could see maybe a storm-blown refugee or super-tired
migrant briefly falling onto a sandbar beside the
beach, but the concept of repeated visits by one/two
Curlew Sandpiper(s) to the area at the base of the
Huntington Beach Jetty seems fantastic. 

The famous bird at the Yawkey center in 1992 was where
one would expect a Curlew Sandpiper in SC - in a
semi-drained freshwater waterfowl impoundment.  

Regarding the description:

The prominent white supercilium should have been
clearly visible, no ifs ands or buts.  

"...decurved bill especially about mid length when it
appeared to have a sharper bend (at times looking as
if it were kinked)"

The literature descibes Curlew Sandpipers as having
"more evenly decurved" bills than Dunlin (Hayman,
Marchant & Prater p. 380 and 381).  

Question: are you saying it was a juvenile bird or an
adult?  Adults are way into nonbreeding plumage now
and Juveniles retain their plumage though November. 
So there shouldn't be any crossover issues of Juvenile
going into adult plumage or molting adults.

Juvenile Curlew Sandpipers don't have "gray back and
scapulars" - that sounds like a nonbreeding adult. 
Juveniles have dark brownish mantle, scapulars and
tertials (see H.M.P. p. 382) and the dark brown/red
cap is very visible and contrasts heavily with the
whitish supercilium.

But "whitish underparts showing a mellow cinammon
cast" sounds like the buff wash on the breast of a
juvenile, not the distinctive rufous neck, breast and
belly of an adult, which would be long gone by now. 
White throat implies juvenile, though the buff wash on
the breast often colors the foreneck of a juvenile.

In flight, did you see if the tips of the toes
extending past the tip of the tail?

How long and how well did y'all see the bird?

If I were on the SCBRC, given the location/habitat
type, date and the contradictory details given,  I
would want to examine a photo to accept this one.

Nathan Dias - Charleston, SC

--- Jack <ppaw@sccoast.net> wrote:
> Hi Carolinabirders,
> First an apology for not reporting more promptly.  I
> had just returned
> from NJ late Wednesday visiting family and taking my
> wife to medical
> labs .  In that interval I unsubscribed to the list
> and did not
> resubscribe until yesterday.  Bob Maxwell and I
> found a Curlew
> Sandpiper.  Friday evening, I called Sharon Turner
> to post it and
> presume that she did so (I was still unsubscribed at
> the time) I saw
> that Robin Carter and Caroline Eastman found not one
> but two there
> yesterday, the 4th. I will write up the bird for the
> SCBRC this week
> from my notes. I will try to refind the bird Monday,
> and try to video
> it.
> 59 species from the carriage path, mullet pond,
> causeway marsh, ocean
> beach and second pond and tidal mudflat just south
> of the renourished
> area at the base of the jetty.
> This latter area is where the Curlew Sandpiper was
> found.
> 
> Brown Pelican-20
> Double-Crested Cormorant-20
> Great Blue Heron-4
> Great Egret-5
> Snowy Egret-7
> Tricolored Heron-4
> REDDISH EGRET-1 in the second pond at the jetty area
> Black-crowned Night-Heron-3 two adults + one
> immature hanging in the
> trees at the northwest corner of Mullet Pond
> White Ibis-20
> Wood Stork-25
> Blue-winged Teal-8
> Red-breasted Merganser-1
> Turkey Vulture-1
> Osprey-5
> Am. Kestrel-1
> Clapper Rail-2 heard only
> Black-bellied Plover-5
> Semipalmated Plover-15
> Piping Plover-1 silver band just above right foot
> Greater Yellowlegs-3
> Lesser Yellowlegs-4
> Willet-3
> Ruddy Turnstone-5
> Red Knot-4
> Sanderling-15
> Western Sandpiper-10
> Dunlin-12 if looking for the Curlew be careful there
> were several long
> billed Dunlin in the same area
> CURLEW SANDPIPER-1 very long strongly decurved bill
> especially about mid
> length when it appeared to have a sharper bend (at
> times looking as if
> it were kinked) long blackish legs more upright
> stature than Dunlin,
> white throat and chin whitish underparts showing a
> mellow cinammon cast,
> mottled gray brown area near the shoulder, gray back
> and scapulars many
> with white tipped edges, Bob Maxwell saw the white
> rump when it flew.
> The one non conforming feature of this individual
> was that the face was
> quite plain with no white supercilium.
> Short-billed Dowitcher-3
> Belted Kingfisher-2
> Red-bellied Woodpecker-1
> Downy Woodpecker-2
> Tree Swallow-abundant
> Blue Jay-8
> Crow sp-3
> Carolina Chickadee-3
> Tufted Titmouse-1 heard only
> Carolina Wren-3 heard only
> Veery-1
> Gray Catbird-2
> N. Mockingbird-3
> Brown Thrasher-1 heard only
> N. Parula-1
> Am. Redstart-3
> Hooded Warbler-1 male
> N. Cardinal-3
> Savannah Sparrow-5
> Boat-tailed Grackle-3
> House Finch-2
> 
> Jack Peachey
> Conway, SC
> 


__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
http://shopping.yahoo.com