Hey tweets, Dennis Paulson asked me for my notes on Short-billed
Dowitchers at the Montlake Fill. As many of you know, I am writing a
book about the Fill (due out this fall, I hope!). The book will
include as complete a list of bird sightings as I can possibly make it.

There are five main historic bird lists for the Fill (not counting the
one that Dennis himself prepared in the 1970s). One of them, "Birds of
the University of Washington Campus" by Robert Miller and Elizabeth
Curtis (published in The Murrelet 21:2, 1940) is not relevant for
dowitchers because people back then did not make distinctions between
short-billed and long-billed. The other major records are:

Fayette Krause, ?Birds of the University of Washington
Campus? (published by Burke Museum, 1975), who says of Short-billed
Dowitchers: ?Occasional on the fill and peat islands during spring and
fall migration.?
(Note: Fayette does not give specific records of numbers, dates, or
age status.)

Ellen Ratoosh, ?Birds of the Montlake Fill, Seattle, Washington
(1979-1983)? (published by WOS in Washington Birds 4:1-34, 1995), who
says of Short-billed Dowitchers: ?Rare spring and occasional fall
migrant?.Seven fall records were from 5 to 27 Jul, for one or two a
day. There was also one on 4 Sep 1982 (DB).?
(Note: Ellen does not give age status, but presumably the July records
are adults. The September record is probably a juvenile, but I don?t
know for sure. SAN stands for Seattle Audubon Notes; DB is D.
Beaudette).

Kevin Aanerud, ?Birds Observed at Montlake Fill, University of
Washington Campus, Seattle, Washington, from 1972 to 1989? (published
by WOS in Washington Birds 1:6-21, 1989) who says only : ?Long-billed
Dowitcher - A much more common visitor than Short-billed, particularly
in fall.?

Chris McInerny, ?Shorebird Passage at the Montlake Fill, University of
Washington, Seattle, 1996-1997? (published by WOS in Washington Birds
8:19-28, 2002), who says in his Table 1 that there were the following
records for fall:
Short-billed: no adults in 1996; 5 adults in 1997; 1 juvenile in
1996; 11 juveniles in 1997.
(In contrast, Long-billed Dowitchers were far more numerous: 46
adults in 1996; 130 adults in 1997; 34 juveniles in 1996; 21 juveniles
in 1997.)

My own records date reliably back to 2003, although I did not bird the
Fill every day (or almost every day as I do now) until 2008. So my
Fill records before that are a little spotty. However, they show the
following fall birds:
2003: Long-billed on 7/9, 7/16, 8/12/ 8/17, 9/30, 10/3. No Short-billed.
2004: Long-billed on 8/12. Short-billed on 8/7.
2005: Long-billed on 7/28, 7/29, 7/30, 9/28,10/1, 10/31. No Short-
billed.
2006: No Short-billed for the year. (complete records not available
for Long-billed, due to flood.)
2007: Long-billed on 7/16 (eleven birds), 7/19, 7/23, 7/24, 8/11.
Short-billed on 7/24 (together with Long-billed).
2008: Long-billed on 7/16, 7/17, 7/27, 7/30, 7/31, 8/3, 8/4, 8/5, 8/6,
8/7, 9/10, 10/20. Short-billed on 7/15.

The conclusion is that Short-billed Dowitchers do turn up at the Fill
in the fall, both adults and juveniles. Therefore, it's wise to
scrutinize every bird, which Dennis has always advised anyway.

By the way, I still think that dowitcher on the left in the photo
mentioned in previous posts is a Short-billed! The angle of the photo
is poor - the bird is face-on. However, you can clearly see the dots
on its neck. The barring that is also apparent is, if I recall my
observations in the field, not actually on the neck itself but more on
the flanks. The photo angle is a little deceptive. - Connie

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