I realize that these two birds?are extreme rarities here - on the other hand, I had the scope out trying desperately to prove myself wrong, but I couldn't do it.??I researched recent Tweeters and other postings for?confirmation that?others might have?seen these, and found reports of both these species in '06, plus the recent posting and subsequent retraction about Semipalmated Sandpipers at Alki.?

Oh well, here's my report:

4/30/09, Nisqually NWR?
The?Semipalmated I believe I saw was with a small flock of about 10 Western Sandpipers.? I watched them for about a 1/2 hour as they worked the?low-tide mud of McAllister Creek at Nisqually (it was right at the "T" where the loop turns right and the creek is up against the trail levee, so I was not far from the birds.??One bird?constantly stood out as different.? It was slightly smaller and slimmer with a smaller head and shorter bill.??It was an exact match for the breeding?plumage of a semipalmated sandpiper.? The legs were dark, not yellow.? I compared it to juvenile stints, but it had more of a plain overall buffy-brown to its upper parts (and I believe the stints would be equally or more rare here anyway).??Its breast was buff with?small dark flecks reaching down from the shoulder but fading away in towards the center.?? No flecks or spots reached?the belly or flanks.?? I asked a couple other birders who happened by to take a
look, and they immediately picked it out of the group and agreed that it was different and appeared to be a semipalmated, but I don't know how expert they were.

On the black-headed gull:? I saw several Bonapart's Gulls and a Caspian Tern on and around?a sandbar where McAllister Creek widens out before it meets the Sound.? Then I saw that one gull had a red bill that was only dark at the?very tip.? Also, its hood did not extend past?the crown, but came down the sides of its face?in a?cresent shape, leaving the nape of its neck white.? Its legs were a rich dark red.? As I searched for other birders to lend an eye and opinion, it left the sandbar and I did not see it again.??I've tried desperately to come up with another possibility, but?I can't find another species that includes all the field marks I identified.

So at the risk of sounding crazy, I stand by my report unless and until someone?can offer a better explanation.? (Hybridizing??I'm on Candid Camera?)? Did something about the weather this season push some unusual birds our way?

Thanks, Tweets!


?Inga Holmquist
P.O. Box 1141
Orting, WA 98360
ingawh at yahoo.com