I saw the sandpipers on a non-birding walk with my husband, so I didn't
have a notebook with me (though, of course, I always have binoculars). I
wrote up the description when I got home, which means I forgot a couple of
things I might have mentioned if I had been making detailed notes on the
spot. Here goes:

On 2/9/02 at about noon, on the sandy beach behind the lighthouse at West
Point in Discovery Park in Seattle, I saw a flock of 8 peep. My first
impression was that they were tiny and plump; my non-birding husband said
they looked like cotton balls on toothpicks. I immediately thought
"Western", but given the recent discussion on Tweeters, I figured I had
better look closely. There was nothing nearby to compare them to, but they
looked quite small. They ran around and foraged at the water's edge with
rapid probing motions. They were quite approachable and we walked to less
than 20 feet from them before they flushed. Their bills were black, and
looked shortish (not like the long and prominent bill of a Dunlin) with a
droop at the tip. Seen from above, there was a slight "bulb" at the
end. They had dark eyes. Their legs were black, with some webbing at the
base of the toes and a definite tiny hindtoe. Their upperparts were very
plain, pale, cold gray (not brownish), with thin black feather shafts
visible on the scapulars. There were pale edges on the tertials. Two or
three of the birds seemed to be starting to molt, with a few scattered
blackish feathers on the lower scapulars. Their wingtips looked even with
the ends of the tails. I didn't see any obvious black markings at the
bends of the wings. Their underparts were white with some smudginess at the
sides of the breast. The centers of the breasts and the forenecks and
throats were clear white, with no "hooded" look. In flight, they showed a
subtle narrow white wing stripe, not at all contrasty. I can't remember
the face patterns or vocalizations, if any.

Rachel Lawson
RachelLawson at softhome.net
Seattle