I think there may be some confusion here...

Semipalmated PLOVER - common in migration and very likely
at Damon Pt in May; probably more likely then Snowy Plover
in May. And there are scattered, rare breeding records for
Oregon and Washington.

Semipalmated SANDPIPER - very rare in the spring, rare but
regular in the fall migration. Dennis was expressing justifiable
concern that this species is being misreported.

Yes, Swainson's Hawks, Red-shouldered Hawks, Arctic Terns
and Semipalmated Sandpipers are almost certainly be misreported
by novice birders armed with their gleaming new Sibley's and
notes from Tweeters that these birds were seen somewhere by
somebody else.

This has always been the way of some birders, it's just more
noticeable with e-mail access. We can help, as Dennis has
suggested, by asking the hard question... Are you sure?

But there will always be that stubborn few who will claim they
saw all three jaeger species from the South Jetty of the
Columbia after putting in 10mins of work because a guide they
read said they could all be seen from there (and not a single
mention of Heermann's Gull or juvenile California Gull in the
report).

Eelevel at aol.com wrote:
>
> On May 5, 2001, we identified two birds as Semipalmated Plovers at
> Damon
> Point. After checking the field guide, based on back coloration, full
> black
> ring on neck, and size, we concluded that these were not the type that
> nested
> there (snowy?). We are tyros at identification and apparently were
> in error.
>
> A while back this year a report on Tweeters stated that 21 Arctic
> Terns were
> observed near the Everett Marina. A couple years age, a pair of
> Arctic Terns
> on the Everett Jetty was big news. There have been lots of reports of
>
> Swainson's Hawks on Tweeters this year. There are reports on various
> sparrow
> species which we just don't seem to see. Some thoughts come to mind:.
>
> 1. Are lots of birders not as skilled as they think they are?
>
> 2. Do lots of birders see the birds they want to see?
>
> 3. Are lots of birders enamored with keeping lists? Is the total
> count the
> payoff? Else why include crows, starlings, etc, in lists? Has the
> mechanical process replaced simply enjoying the birds for what they
> are and
> blighted the ability to properly identify?
>
> 4. And of course, does any field guide display many birds as we see
> them?
> Ed Level, Everett, WA.

--
Mike Patterson Alas, to wear the mantle of Galileo,
Astoria, OR it is not enough to be persecuted
celata at pacifier.com by an unkind establishment,
you must also be right.
---Robert Park
http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html