Subject: [Tweeters] Curlew Sandpiper Grant Co. Very late report
Date: Mar 31 19:29:40 2005
From: Grace & Ed Kane - kane3d2001 at yahoo.com


My apologies for such a late report.

My wife & I found a single Curlew Sandpiper on friday,
03 March at the "county line ponds" at the eastern
edge of Grant County along hwy 26 in the late
afternoon. The bird was first seen at a distance of
about 50-60 yards in clear view probing unhurriedly in
the wet mud and knee deep (to the bird) water at the
west edge of the pond on the south side of hwy 26.
The bird was still in full non-breeding plummage.
No sign of breeding colors whatsoever. The first
thing that stood out was the long, solidly black bill
that was uniformly curved (downward) throughout it's
length, and the very uniform light grey coloring to
its upper side. The folded wing tips were darker than
the rest of the wings and slightly longer than the tip
of the tail. There was a fairly wide white eyestripe
and a somewhat dark loral stripe. The undersides,
from the lower breast to the tip of the undertail
coverts, was perfectly bright white. The upper breast
area showed a close pattern of color that I would call
a collection of small spotting, with a straight, clean
lower limit. A small, neat grouping of these marks
showed just beneath the leading edge of each folded
wing.
After watching the bird through the scope for 10-15
minutes, it flew (at just the moment we weren't
looking, so we didn't get to see the white rump) to
the white rock out in the pond and proceeded to tuck
in it's bill and roost, facing us.
We left to find a phone, returning an hour later
with Bob Flores, to find three Dunlin that provided a
nice contrast to our bird: The Dunlin bills were more
straight at first and bent downward near the tip (and
their bills seemed slightly less substantial than our
bird); The uppersides were darker brown overall and
the upper breasts were noticeably darker and colored
with broad, uneven brush strokes of color, rather than
the neat patterning of our bird. The Dunlin wing tips
were also shorter than the tail tip.
We were unable to re-find our bird.
We also found a single Avocet at the pond, but no
Stilts.

Ed & Grace Kane
Renton, WA
kane3d2001 at yahoo.com
425-277-9784



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