This morning while I was walking in along the South Jetty of the
Columbia River after doing a seawatch I flushed an Actitis-type
sandpiper. It had the typical springy wing movements of a Spotted
Sandpiper, but seemed large.

I watched it through my binoculars as it circled out over the surf
on the river side and then back to the jetty about 50 meters east
of where I flushed it.

The bird seemed large for a Spotted Sandpiper. It flew with a curious
neck extended posture and the bill was longish as well. The head seemed
hooded and from the distance that I observed from there appeared to be
no spots on the breast. The wings had a bold median stripe and white
along the trailing margin of the secondaries. My impression was that
the white connected near the tertials.

I saw the bird once more, briefly, as it flew over the jetty to the ocean
side. I was not able to relocate the bird.

There are, to date, no accepted records of Common Sandpiper south of Alaska.
I did not have the opportunity to study this bird sufficiently to be
certain that this was not an exceptionally bright Spotted Sandpiper.

--
Mike Patterson I don't swear for the hell of it.
Astoria, OR Language is a poor enough means of communication
mpatters at orednet.org and we've got to use all the words we've got....
Besides, there are damn few words anybody understands
Henry Drummond in "Inherit the Wind"

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html