Hello All,
On Saturday I posted a description of a Curlew Sandpiper I observed near Stanwood and directions to my Flickr site where I posted some images.
Several people have said the images are of a Western Sandpiper and after reviewing all 29 that I took I agree they have a point.

I went back and reviewed the notes I had taken in the field and they still point to CUSA-in particular the long downcurved bill,projection of the wings beyond the tail tip and very prominent white supercilium.

The images, however, don't support my field notes.

There is always the possibility that the CUSA had departed while I walked back to my vehicle to get my camera and that I found a lone WESA upon my return and simply began shooting before verifying it was the same bird.

At this point I am just chagrined that I was not able to thoroughly document that I had in fact been watching a CUSA.

Cheers
Steve Giles
giles.steve at hotmail.com