Greetings

For those who have seen (or will be going to see) the California Greater
Sand-Plover:

There are some great resources. The first is Joe Morlan's website at
http://fog.ccsf.org/~jmorlan/sandplover.htm

The second is an article in the April 2000 British Birds. This can be ordered
from their website at www.britishbirds.co.uk. The cost is only about 10
dollars, and you can use your creditcard. The article is great, and there is
also an interesting article on the Western Palearctic's first Long-billed
Murrelet.

Joe's webpage includes some expert opinions from European and Asian birders.
All agree that it is a Greater Sand-Plover, though there are still some
American birders who express a bit of doubt. Having seen the bird, I must say
that I'd be shocked if it was a Mongolian Plover (aka, Lesser Sand-Plover).
The bill shape and size, the underwing primary covert pattern, the legs
extending beyond the tail in flight, the wingbar shape, and the tail pattern
all seem to clearly eliminate Mongolian. I did not have any size comparisons
with comparable birds (the nearest bird in size being BB Plover), but
apparently others have seen the sand-plover with shorebirds of similar size,
and some of those observers feel that the sand-plover looked small for a
Greater. That is the only source of doubt that I've heard.

Cheers
Steven Mlodinow
SGMlod at aol.com
Everett WA 98203
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