Points well taken, Patrick. In my effort toward brevity, I probably
should have described the circumstances of the sitings more carefully.
During the course of my weekly census of the Hylebos mudflats I was
perched out on an old log in the northeast corner of the flats. This
point offers me a more or less unobstructed view of the upland buffered
area of trees and shrubs while giving me a good viewpoint of a major
portion of the flats.

So I'm perched up on my seat taking in the surrounding area and getting
ready to start the clock on the site census when a group of 50 or so
peeps fly in and literally land at my feet. At times, this group moved
as close as 12" from the log where I perched silently and motionlessly.
For the next 30 minutes or so, I observed the ebb and flow of shorebirds
without benefit of binoculars (which were useless under the
circumstances), field guides and/or notes. I was able to easily and
leisurely examine this mix of birds as to plummage, coloration, legs,
feet, voices, bills, markings, feeding habits, etc. My immediate
reaction was to write the whole lot off as Westerns (mixed ages and
plummages) with some Leasts tossed in for variety. However, as I
continued to look and listen, another few birds were definately in the
mix which I could not account for. Perhaps here it is appropriate to
note that for me, as a resident along the northshore of Commencement
Bay, shorebirds, especially Leasts, Westerns, and Spotted ARE backyard
birds for me. The five individuals noted in that flock were definately
not Westerns or Leasts in any plummage. Their vocalizations were
definately not Leasts or Westerns.

At best, I am a highly conservative and suspicious birder. I was taught
by one to assume that every "rare" species I might see is a "common"
species in an unfamiliar plummage. I was able to sketch out some of the
differences I noted while observing this group and wrote out the various
vocalizations I heard while sitting there. Regretably there are no
photographs, I seldom carry a camera with me during the course of the
weekly census. The purpose of the census is gather baseline data for
several sites of special interest along the north shore of Commencement
Bay. In fact, for the purposes of this census the Semi-palmated
Sandpipers are just "peeps". Interesting siting, but not a baseline
species to be counted upon on a regular basis.

Thanks for the additional information, I will add it to the report made
to those asking for the information and allow them to use/reject my
sighting. As for me, I'm adding it to my personal home list of birds
I've watched in my backyard.

LeslieAnn Rose
Tacoma, WA
Ruth Sullivan wrote:
>
> Hello Tweets,
>
> I would like to respond to the 4 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS seen yesterday on
> the mudflats at the S. end of the Hylebos Waterway and add extreme caution
> should be taken in identifying this species, especially in S.Puget Sound,
> where there are extremely FEW records. Multiple birds are extremely rare or
> unheard of this far south, as most individuals travel south to the
> Vancouver area(Iona Island), with only a few that trickle in to W WA,
> mainly in N.Puget Sound(Whatcom-Snohomish Cos.)and casually to King Co.
> with mainly single birds. I would hesitate to confirm mulitple birds,
> unless photographed in S.Puget Sound, but a single bird would be
> acceptable, but still very RARE.
>
> Today I checked the Tacoma location in which the birds were seen yesterday
> at 12:30pm-1:15pm(low tide) and was able to confirm the good numbers of
> Western Sandpipers, which numbered at around 300, and Least Sandpipers at
> 45. The Westerns were mostly juveniles, with a few in partial breeding
> plumage. I was able to notice several Westerns that had mud-coated bills,
> which made the bill looked thicker, and somewhat blunt-tipped, as a
> Semipalmated would have, but is much duller and paler overall than a
> Western. Other birds at this location included: 5 Boneaparte's Gulls, 3 Mew Gulls, 8 California Gulls, and 2 Purlple Martins.

> Good Birding,
>
> Patrick Sullivan
> GODWIT at worldnet.att.net