Subject: Re: High Altitude Shorebirds
Date: Aug 29 17:04:24 1994
From: Eugene Hunn - hunn at u.washington.edu


Charles,

Spotted Sandpipers are quite common breeders on montane lakes and
streams, as we have been finding in the course of our Breeding Bird
Atlasing. Williams Lake is a beautiful spot. I haven't been there for
over 10 years.

Gene Hunn.

On Mon, 29 Aug 1994, Charles E. Vaughan wrote:

>
>
> This weekend I hiked to Williams Lake in extreme eastern King Co. This was
> not a birding trip but I was looking around. The unusual (for me) bird
> was a compact shorebird. Shaped like a sandpiper, small (same size to
> slightly smaller than Dippers, often seen together) gray and white markings,
> yellow legs, bill the length and shape of a typical sandpiper profile,
> prominent white shoulder marking. I'm sorry but I didn't get the primary to
> tail length comparison. I consulted every book I had I didn't get a
> particularly good match. I'm guessing Spotted Sandpiper based on Nat't Geo.
> Field Guide. Is it at all unusual to find this bird at a mountain lake?
>
> The elevation of the lake was about 4400 ft. Surroundings were light
> timber, timberline about 500-1000 ft. higher, open meadows, lots of streams
> and potholes. The lake is small (i.e less than 1/2 mi. across), deep in
> some areas but with some large shallow areas with about 1/2 the lakeshore
> had marshy margin the other half rocky. Weather was light breeze, sunny, 40
> - 70 degrees F.
>
> Charles Vaughan
> Woodinville, WA
>
> P.S. Nice sighting of a female Cooper's Hawk and she flew within 3 feet of
> my head (but didn't seem to be attacking) for my Audubon Moment on this trip.
>
>