Shorebirds present late am to early afternoon at Montlake 4 July:

Killdeer 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 1 (well into molt)
Least Sandpiper 20+
Western Sandpiper 10+

Also a possible Semipalmated Sandpiper: plumage looked good (to me) for
Semi (only hints of red in crown and auriculars; some reddish edging
on scapulars, but not nearly as much rufous anywhere as on the undisputed
Westerns there; some of the feathers on the margin of the mantle had
already been replaced by brownish gray winter feathers; chevrons/streaks
confined to anterior part of sides; breast very lightly streaked with
brownish gray. Legs black). The odd thing about the bird was its bill,
which seemed long for a Semi. When the bird was right next to undoubted
Westerns & Leasts, the absolute length of its bill was distinctly shorter
than the Westerns (n=4), and a tad longer than the Leasts (n=3). According
to Dennis's chart, Semi bills only slightly overlap Westerns in length (in
Cascadian birds, anyway) but they strongly overlap those of Leasts, and
only the longest Semis are longer than the longest Leasts.

So was the bird question a Semi with a long bill, or a male Western with
a serious deficit of red? If the bill was shorter and stouter, it would
be pretty straightforward to call it a Semi, based on descriptions in
Paulson and in Hayman et al. The red in the auriculars and crown was so
faint as to be detectable only from some angles, even in good light, and
the red on the scapulars was (to my eye) closer to chestnut in color than
the carrot-top red of Westerns. (A photo in the Audubon Master Guide
shows the subtle chestnut edging on the scapulars in an adult Semi). If
I had to call the bird, I'd bet on Semi, but at any rate it's fun to come
across one that makes you really look at it. The bird in question was
spotted by a guy in a yellow halibut commission t-shirt.

Also of note were 2 or 3 Caspian Terns over the lake. And the loosestrife
is growing fast.

David Wright
Seattle, WA
dwright at u.washington.edu