Subject: [Tweeters] Possible CURLEW SANDPIPER, Anacortes
Date: Nov 29 19:24:40 2004
From: Kristi Hein - khc at picturesandwords.com


Hello,

Today, 11/29/04, I am fairly certain I observed a CURLEW SANDPIPER around 1
P.M. on the new Tommy Thompson Parkway in Anacortes, where it runs along the
Weaverling Spit causeway across Fidalgo Bay.

Because I've never seen a CURLEW SANDPIPER before, and I've discovered that
it's a real rarity here, and I had no way to visually record it, I would
love to have the sighting confirmed by others. Seeing it again at the same
location is probably a long shot, but please keep an eye out for it and
report it if you see it. I have filled out the wos.org Rare Bird form with
the following notes (I've tried to condense them here; pardon the length):

The bird flew from west to east past me along the south side of the
causeway, near the train trestle, quick and low just above the water, and
alighted on the rocks. I observed it there for about a minute. It was a lone
individual; I saw no other shorebirds on my walk from 34th Street to the
trestle and back. It stood still just above the water for only a few
minutes, not feeding, alert and wary, with neck elongated. Then it flew away
in the direction it had come from, giving a repeated brief, slightly musical
call. (I repeated the call to myself, mentally spelling it "Chreep" or
"Ch'rreep" with a rolled "r," with a somewhat ascending quality.)

When it first flew past, I had the impression of a medium-size sandpiper,
with gray-brown body and wings clearly marked with white stripes. When I
observed it at rest, with 8 x 42 bino at about 30 feet, I could see only the
head, shoulders, and breast, as a rock was blocking the rest. (I had no book
or note-taking tools with me so I repeated all field marks to myself.) It
appeared distinctly long-necked and small-headed, with a long, slender,
downcurved dark bill. The head, shoulders, back, and most of the neck onto
the breast were a soft gray-brown, shading to white down the front of the
neck and onto the breast. Dark eye and faint eye-stripe. When it flew away,
I noted the wing-stripes again as well as a white rump.

My first impression was "This is a species I have never seen before." I
ruled out Western and Least Sandpipers immediately -- this bird was
distinctly different: its head too small, neck too long, and bill far too
long and curved. Dunlin is stockier, even with neck extended; the bill is
straighter and the call (which I've played from a database) is quite
different. Lesser Yellowlegs has a similar slender, small-headed impression
but is too large, more gray than brown, straight-billed, and quite different
in flight (no wing stripes), and the call is completely different.

At home I checked four field guides, and at the library, Shorebirds of the
Pacific Northwest, which notes that the Curlew Sandpiper's "chirrup" or
"chreep" call is distinctive among shorebirds; only the Mongolian Plover's
is similar.

(Other nice birds observed out there include R-B Merganser, Hooded
Merganser, Common Goldeneye, many Greater Scaup, many Bufflehead, a Pelagic
Cormorant, and a half dozen Common Loon. Actually, one of those looked very
much like an Arctic Loon, but that too would be a new bird and I don't want
to press my luck!)

Hoping for confirmation!
Good birding,

Kristi Hein
Anacortes, WA
khc AT picturesandwords.com