Subject: [Tweeters] Dowitchers at the Fill (5 total shorebirds at the
Date: May 8 18:32:37 2007
From: Brett Wolfe - m_lincolnii at yahoo.com


Hi Joe, tweets,

Those were pretty certainly Long-billed Dowitchers. I ran into Matt Bartels this morning around 10:00am out there and we discussed the birds while each checking our different field guides. The voice was higher pitched, and they were dark all the way down the belly, and without the spotting that the Short-bills should have. We left pretty certain of the ID. At that time, there were also 4 Least Sandpipers and 2 Westerns.

I then went out there around 4:35pm to help a friend in a class with her bird ID's. What a great time to be out there! There were the 9 Long-billed Dowitchers, plus 2 Greater Yellowlegs, what appeared to be 18 Least and 6 Western Sandpipers (possibly off by one or two - the light was bad and the damn crows kept bullying the little guys into flight before I could make any better ID's), as well as a pairof Killdeer. That made for a nice little 5 shorebird species display at Shovelers Pond!

Oh yes, I also had a couple of American Pipits over by the most southeasterly pond, and some great views of Cinnamon Teal on the Central Pond. Ended the day with a pair of Bald Eagles flying over as I hightailed it out of the cold, blustery wind that replaced our gorgeous day. The Union Bay Natural Area seldom fails to yield a great day!

Brett A. Wolfe
Seattle, WA
m_lincolnii at yahoo.com

joemmoby at u.washington.edu wrote:



Hi Birders,

I stopped by the Montlake Fill this afternoon to take a break from school. Foolishly, I chose today to leave my field guide at home. There were nine large-ish rusty colored shorebirds with very long bills feeding in the shade on the west shore of Shoveler's Pond. I've been at school all day so I haven't had a chance to look at my field guide yet. Based on an internet search, my tentative identification is either Short-Billed or Long-Billed Dowitchers...but I don't feel especially confident with shorebirds yet. Did anyone else get a look at these birds?

Thanks!

Joe Meredith
Seattle, WA
joemmoby at gmail.com

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