Subject: [Tweeters] More on the Ruff at Nisqually NWR
Date: Sep 8 22:17:33 2011
From: AJ Knue - vireolanius at live.com



Matt Hale and I found the Ruff around 4:50pm and watched it for 10 minutes before it flushed and landed in a place where we could no longer watch it. It is an immature bird- nothing too remarkable about the look of the bird (bland field marks). Size roughly that of a Lesser Yellowlegs, but beefier- appears small headed and pot-bellied. Unmarked and very buffy face, neck and breast, with contrasting white lower belly and vent. Crown was streaked, and the back and wing covert feathers blackish, rather broadly fringed buff, appearing scalloped. In flight, weak white wing stripe, slightly darker primaries, largely white rump (thin brown rump stripe separating two ovals of white), and toes projecting beyond tail. Bill shortish, darker toward the tip; legs and feet yellow. It was first seen with a Greater Yellowlegs, feeding in the small tidal influenced pools between the large pool at the start of the dike trail and the large pool at the start of the boardwalk, all on the north side of the dike. We then later refound the bird (with a few lucky late coming birders) around 6:40-7pm on the grassier/ more vegetated south side of the dike, where is was associating with Short-billed Dowitchers and what were probably a couple Pectoral Sandpipers. It could not be watched when it was on this side of the dike, but flushed a few times and then ended up flying back to the northern side of the dike to feed on the mud now exposed in the first pool near the start of the dike trail. It fed here briefly before it was flushed and chased by a Peregrine Falcon. The high tide is around 5:50pm tomorrow, so that might be a good time to try to re-find it. Other shorebirds seen- large flocks of Western and Least Sandpipers; small groups of Short-billed Dowitchers, 1 group of 7 Long-billed Dowitchers, a few yellowlegs of both species, 6 or so Wilson's Snipe, 4 Baird's Sandpipers, 1 Semipalmated Plover, a few Killdeer, 1 Whimbrel, and a couple fo birds we think were Pectoral Sandpipers but we were concentrating on the Ruff and neglected to verify that these were Pecs. Also lots of American Pipits, several eagles and many ducks. Good birding, Alan

AJ Knue
vireolanius at live.com
Seattle, WA