Yesterday (2-4-19) while visiting Utsalady here on Camano Island, I noted an
unusual appearance of a Wilson’s Snipe landing at the intersection of Shore
Drive and Baker at the top of Utsalady. My wife and I watched it for a few
moments foraging then it flew off into a nearby yard where continued for a
short while longer. I suspect with the freezing temps near the preserve by
the boat launch they were searching other nearby areas.



We opted to revisit and try to locate the Snipe today (2-5-19) and noted one
flying above historic Utsalady Park. It was directly above a male and
female Bald Eagle (taunting bravery ay?). After noticing this snipe fly by
on 3 separate occurrences, on the 3rd return we noted it clipped a telephone
line and spun around like a helicopter going down. We saw the injured bird
land just above a gully on a snow bank (luckily some cushioning). After ten
minutes of searching, the Snipe popped up out of the snow bank with a
noticeable injury (images in link below). There was bleeding where its wing
attaches to its torso.



I proceeded to carrying the bird to a safe place and ran into a neighbor
that supplied a box. We’ve carted it home and its being kept safe, no food
or drink in dark room without noise. I did call Sarvy about 3:30 thanks to
the suggestion of a local bird pal but didn’t hear back as of yet. We also
reached out to our friend who is a vet that will examine the bird tomorrow.



I’ve reviewed its diet online and since its foraging technique and food type
is so specialized, we are going to return the Snipe after inspection
tomorrow to the drainage area where 3 other Snipes were foraging.



If anyone has experience with this species (doubtful I suspect) or wishes to
provide additional tips, please do so.



Here’s a link with pix and video – thanks to my fellow birders who aided us
with ideas.



https://1drv.ms/f/s!ABIktni2WUg5khQ



Good birding



Anthony on Camano Island

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