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A Smooth Trip for a Ruff

July 9, 2012 by Shelley Rutkin

If you start thinking that I’m crazy as you read this, I agree with you.  It started yesterday morning with a Carolinabirds post reporting that John Fussell had found a male Ruff in breeding plumage at Cedar Island.  I thought about it for a few minutes, posted a message to Forsythbirds asking if anyone wanted to go with me, and decided that I would go regardless of whether I could find a partner for this adventure.  My preparation consisted of making arrangements for my dog and collecting my binoculars, scope, camera, and toothbrush.  I forgot my books about birding the NC coast as well as food and water.  I was in my car at 12:20 PM for a drive that Google maps said was 5-1/2 hours.  But that’s not the crazy part; all that driving would only be tedious and boring.  The crazy part was having no plan whatsoever about where I would sleep.  I expected the closest accommodations would be in Beaufort, nearly 40 miles from Cedar Island, and had no idea if there would be any vacancies since it is summer season.  I was already on the road before I started to think about these practical matters.  Due to either maturity or denial, I decided that I’d worry about it later, after I’d seen the Ruff.  Bumper to bumper traffic slowed me down for half an hour, so it was nearly 7:00 PM when I arrived at the Cedar Island ferry terminal.  And what was right beside the terminal – a restaurant and motel!  Such experiences sometimes make me believe that there really is a birding god who keeps us safe on our crazy travels and occasionally blesses us with quality views of fabulous birds.  The motel had plenty of rooms available so I went off to find the Ruff.

It took me a few minutes to find the pond, but once that task was accomplished, I immediately saw the Ruff.  I may be biased because I really like shorebirds, but I thought that he was quite a beauty with his white head and neck and brown, black, and white mottled body. The Ruff was slightly larger, both taller and chunkier, than the nearby Lesser Yellowlegs.  He flushed when the Yellowlegs gave their alarm calls and took flight, but never went far enough that he was out of sight.  I enjoyed the Ruff and other shorebirds for nearly an hour, had a crab dinner, and went to bed feeling safe and comfortable and very grateful for my good fortune.

Ruff and Lesser Yellowlegs

Nate Swick has suggested that this Ruff is the same Ruff that was found at Jamaica Bay NWR in New York on July 1.  Andrew Baksh tells the story (with photos) of discovering that bird in Ruff stuff at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.  The timing works for a bird last seen in New York on July 5 to be found in North Carolina on July 8.  For good photos of the Cedar Island Ruff, see Harry Sell’s site.  The birds look identical.

There were also many other shorebirds at the pond, including at least 25 Spotted Sandpipers, the most that I’ve ever seen together.

Cedar Island Shorebirds

Most of the Spotted Sandpipers were in breeding plumage, but the one below is a juvenile.  Note the light-brown edging on the feathers of the wing.  Also note the distinct eye ring – something that’s not mentioned in most field guides, but is typical of juvenile Spotted Sandpipers.

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Texas 2012 – Part 2 (Neal’s Lodges, Big Bend, Davis Mountains)

July 1, 2012 by Shelley Rutkin

Big Bend sunset. Photo by Warren Jones.

Big Bend sunset. Photo by Warren Jones.

After our group met in Hondo, Texas, it was on to Neal’s Lodges in Concan in hopes of seeing Golden-cheeked Warblers and Black-capped Vireos.  We found the warbler quite cooperative and all had great views at Neal’s and again at Lost Maples SNA.  The vireo, however, did not want to be seen as much as we wanted to see it.  One flashed by a couple of times, but I did not get a look that I could count.  A lovely Tropical Parula was a bonus bird at Neal’s, though, which we all saw well.  Another treat at Neal’s were the plentiful and cooperative Bell’s Vireos.  Unlike their black-capped cousins, these birds perched in the open for us.

The most awe-inspiring experience in Concan for me, though, was our visit to the Frio Bat Cave where 10 to 12 million Mexican free-tailed Bats emerge from the cave and whirl into the sky just before dark.  We stood outside the cave entrance where we could hear the whoosh, feel the breeze created by their wings, and smell the odor of the bats (surprisingly not unpleasant) as they flew a few feet over our heads and ascended into the evening sky.  I found this amazingly peaceful.  An added bonus was a Canyon Wren who hopped around on the rocks outside the cave entrance while we were listening to the guide and waiting for the bats to exit the cave.  It was an unexpected treat to get close looks at a bird that is more often heard than seen.

At Big Bend, a Greater Roadrunner appeared in front of the lodge before we even got the cars unloaded, a sign of the good birding ahead.  The Colima Warbler, the reason that we were in Big Bend, rewarded those of us who climbed the Pinnacle Trail with wonderful views.  It was also great to have quality views of Common Black-Hawks and Gray Hawks.  Another interesting sighting was a Blue-winged Warbler at the Sam Nail Ranch.  We were puzzled when we saw the bird because it should not have been there.  It is a bird of the Eastern US.  But we could not make the bird into anything other than a Blue-winged Warbler.  Later we learned that the bird had been discovered the day before our sighting and was reported on the rare bird alerts.

Seeing a bird really well can be as exciting for me as seeing a life bird.  I suppose you could call it seeing life field marks.  Such was the case with the Vesper Sparrow that I watched in front of the camp store at Big Bend.  The little sparrow stretched its neck upward to reach the grass seeds and seemed to not care at all that I was watching from only 10-15 feet away.  It was exciting to be close enough to actually see the rufous shoulder patch.  Now I could understand why this bird was once called Bay-winged Bunting, and before that, Grass Finch.  The name Vesper Sparrow was first used by New England naturalist Wilson Flagg in 1858 because he thought that the bird sang most fervently during the sun’s decline until dusk.

Christmas Mountains Oasis provided a wonderful stop on our way from Big Bend to the Davis Mountains.  Carolyn Ohl-Johnson, CMO’s owner, was a delightful host who was interesting, energetic, and very welcoming.  I got my 500th ABA bird there – a male Varied Bunting.  Carolyn wrote about our visit on her blog and posted a photo of our group.

Montezuma Quail. Photo by Warren Jones.

Montezuma Quail. Photo by Warren Jones.

We wrapped up our trip with two days in the Davis Mountains and we were rewarded with incredibly close long looks at the star of Davis Mountains State Park, Montezuma Quail.  On two separate visits, both a male and female came within 10 feet of us.  They also fed surprisingly close to javelinas on one of those visits.  These sightings occurred at the official quail viewing station where the feeders also drew in quite a few other birds.  My favorites were the Green-tailed Towhees who also allowed us wonderful close looks.

Back at the Hotel Limpia, a charming Say’s Phoebe graced the lobby entrance with her constant presence as she attended her nest on the porch.

Say's Phoebe. Photo by Warren Jones.

Say’s Phoebe. Photo by Warren Jones.

Many thanks go to Warren Jones for permission to use his photos in this post.

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Texas 2012 – Part 1 (High Island via Dauphin Island)

June 28, 2012 by Shelley Rutkin

The Rookery at Smith Oaks at High Island

The Rookery at Smith Oaks at High Island

“You should have been here yesterday.”  That’s how my trip in April started out.  Two friends and I drove from North Carolina to Dauphin Island, Alabama, and High Island, Texas, before meeting the rest of our group near San Antonio.  I learned that hot spots aren’t hot every day, even at the right time of the year.

Common Loon - a surprising find at Dauphin Island

Common Loon – a surprising find at Dauphin Island

I don’t have much to say about Dauphin Island except that it did provide my best view ever of a very beautiful Kentucky Warbler.  We also saw so many Prothonotary Warblers that they almost became trash birds.  And, take your own food!  Perhaps being there Easter weekend didn’t contribute to the availability of dining options, but it was so bad that the last night we voted for the hamburgers at the gas station as our best bet for dinner.

At High Island, the bird story was similar to Dauphin Island; we missed the big days before and after our visit.  But High Island did give me my first life bird of the trip, a very cooperative Swainson’s Warbler.  On our first morning at Boy Scout Woods, I asked about finding the warbler and headed in the direction where one had been seen the day before.  After searching a short time, I noticed two men intently peering into the thick underbrush.  I knew that they were looking at a Swainson’s Warbler.  I slowly walked over to the men; they warmly greeted me and then showed me where the warbler was turning over leaves on the ground.  Over the next 20 minutes, a crowd of 10 or so slowly gathered and our local expert did not leave until he was sure that every person there had seen the Swainson’s Warbler.

A rookery is an amazing place with hundreds of birds packed in so tightly that they almost step on each other.  I took the photo at the top of this post at The Rookery at Smith Oaks in High Island.  At the time of our visit, nesting birds were predominately Roseate Spoonbills and Neotropic Cormorants with a few Great and Snowy Egrets.  The Roseate Spoonbills were dazzling with their deep pink shoulders, orange tail, and tuft of pink feathers in the center of their breasts.

Do you remember Dreamsicles?  My friend Susan describes the color of American Avocets in breeding plumage as deamsicle.  The thousand plus Avocets we discovered at Bollivar Flats looked like a colorful sea of dreamsicle, black and white.  What an awesome moment it was to soak in all that beauty and see one of our favorite birds doing so well that they could congregate in groups of thousands.  I have since learned that the American Avocet does indeed have a NatureServe conservation status of G5 (secure) and an IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) status of Least Concern.  The global population is estimated at 450,000 adults.

Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge provided a wonderful break on our drive to meet the rest of our group.  We had only a couple of hours to spare, but could easily have spent an entire day there.  Everything was wonderful – the habitat, birds, butterflies, flowers, visitor’s center.  During our short visit, we were pleased to see the only White-tailed Hawk of the trip, a close-up Crested Caracara, Loggerhead Shrike and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers along with ducks, waders, and meadowlarks.  We all noted Attwater NWR as a place we would like to visit again as we headed west to continue our Texas adventure.

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Jesse’s Rules for Life

June 22, 2012 by Shelley Rutkin

Jesse

Jesse

During the past 12 years, I’ve frequently said that I wanted to be like my dog and I really meant it.  I considered him my role model for life.  The dog is Fallsview Jesse Cleveland, whom I also called Angel Puppy, Sweetie Pie, and The Boy.  I had wanted another girl dog, but I still remember making the decision one morning in the shower, a few days after seeing photos of the litter, that a boy would be OK.  The pups were 4 weeks old when I visited and they were adorable, as are all Labrador Retriever puppies, especially yellow ones.  While the other pups climbed over each other in my lap vying for attention, Jesse was off playing in the woods.  He was the wild boy and the prettiest pup in the litter.  The breeder would donate one puppy to a service agency and expected them to choose Jesse; I would get one of the calmer boys.  But it was like being back in junior high school; I was secretly in love with the beautiful bad boy.

Three weeks later, I drove the 2 hours with my friend, Karen, and my standard poodle, Ruskie, to pick up my new puppy.  We were greeted with a surprise; the service agency tested “the slug” first and found him perfect!  They didn’t even test Jesse or the other male.  So, the breeder quickly re-assigned puppies and asked if I was willing to take Jesse!  One the way home, he whined on Karen’s lap, so I suggested putting him in the back seat with Ruskie.  He immediately snuggled up to her and fell promptly asleep.  Jesse only had his big “sister” for a year, but she helped him get a great start in life.  When she was lying down and he wanted to play, he would grab her “topknot” and pull upwards.  She usually obliged and played with him.  After we lost Ruskie to cancer, Annie, another yellow Labrador Retriever, came into our lives.  Annie was only a few months older than Jesse and they seemed like doggie soul mates right from the start.  Their play was so entertaining that some evenings I didn’t turn on the TV; I just watched the dogs.  One favorite game was for Annie to lie on her back on the floor while Jesse grabbed her by the throat and spun her in circles.  Yes, it sounds rough, but Annie seemed to enjoy the game as much as Jesse did.

So, what made Jesse so special that I’d want to be like him?  I present the following list that I wrote on December 1, 2002, just a few weeks before Jesse’s third birthday.  I envisioned a little book with a rule on each page and an appropriate photo.  While I don’t have a photo for each “rule”, they all bring back wonderful memories and images of Jesse, the sweetest dog I’ve ever known.

Rule #1:  Don’t admit you’re a dog.  You are just as good as anyone else.

Rule #2:  Keep the pack together.

Rule #3:  If someone tries to kill you for taking their pig ear, don’t do it again.  But assume that they still love you and keep on playing.

Rule #4:  Don’t play politics.  Just ignore those who want to be alpha.

Jesse demonstrating Rule #5

Jesse demonstrating Rule #5

Rule #5:  Humor those who love you.

Rule #6:  Treat guests like family.

Rule #7:  Be persistent in making friends.  If someone doesn’t want to play today, ask again tomorrow.

Rule #8:  Share.

Rule #9:  Be relentless in going after what you want.

Rule #10:  Be happy.  Wiggle your butt and thump your tail.

Rule #11:  Enjoy the simple things in life.

Rule #12:  Relax at the end of the day.

Jesse shows how to perform Rule #12

Jesse shows how to perform Rule #12

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Losing Jesse

June 22, 2012 by Shelley Rutkin

Jesse

Jesse

Recently, I made one of the most difficult decisions of my life.  I decided that I did not want to see my beloved dog, Jesse, struggle any longer.  Jesse seemed to be in perfect health until his diagnosis of diabetes nearly two years ago.  We managed the diabetes well, but something else happened at the same time causing Jesse to become very weak in the hindquarters.  The weakness progressed to stiffness, falling, apparent pain, and finally the inability to stand up at times.  Severe arthritis was a factor, but I always suspected that there was also something more.  We did everything reasonable – blood tests, x-rays, a test for Addison’s Disease – but couldn’t find anything to treat, so only administered insulin and pain medication.  It became harder and harder to see Jesse struggle.  I can’t begin to describe the difficulty of my decision.  Guilt played a big part in it; thinking about how I’d feel guilty if I ended his life too soon and guilty if I let him suffer too long.  And then I felt guilty for letting my guilt play such a big part in the decision.  I wanted my decision to be based upon what was best for Jesse, not what was easiest for me.  While I was in Texas in April, my dog-sitter found Jesse on the floor unable to get up without help on several occasions.  I thought that I could see an overall decline, too, in the two short weeks that I’d been gone.  But he still had good days; his tail still wagged; he still greeted visitors at the door with a toy in his mouth.  How I wished that the signs had been clearer and consistent.  Finally, I decided that I wasn’t willing to risk Jesse suffering a serious injury in a fall down the steps and I couldn’t bear the thought of his being “trapped” on the floor, unable to get up.  And there was the ever-present awareness that he was in pain.  So, I made the decision that no one ever wants to make; I decided to say goodbye.  Jesse lived a little over 12 years and gave me a lifetime of love and devotion.  I will write about Texas and I will write about China, but please indulge me with my next post about my dog.

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Florida Doves, Pigeons, Shorebirds and a Short-tailed Hawk

March 12, 2012 by Shelley Rutkin

American Oystercatcher

American Oystercatcher at the Dunedin Causeway

“Shelley, look, there’s your Oystershucker!” I fondly remembered finding my life American Oystercatcher with my friend, David, in St. Pete as I flew there on March 2. David and I had a day and a half to bird together before he would drive me to meet my son-in-law, Jeff. David is not a real birder and that’s why I love birding with him. We once watched a Great Blue Heron try to eat a fish for half an hour. If I had been with a “real birder”, I’d have been embarrassed to pay so much attention to a common bird. This time we watched three Mourning Doves for 15 minutes. While field guides don’t show differences between males and females, we were sure that the grayer bird was a male and the browner ones were females. The male showed a patch of glowing iridescence on the side of his neck as he puffed himself up and strutted towards the females. We thought that they would mate right in front of us and prove who was who, but picking for food in the grass won their interest. A little research after the trip revealed that there IS a difference between male and female Mourning Doves which Bill Hilton describes and illustrates with gorgeous photos MOURNING DOVE: EXTERNAL ATTRIBUTES OF A FAVORITE GAME BIRD.

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl

Saturday we visited Kapok Park, where we saw both Great Horned owlets and mom. The owlets were big “branchers” now and out of the nest, fuzzy and adorable. Great Horned Owls have nested at Kapok for several years. The photo at left was taken by David in 2009.

Sunday dawned so windy that we had to change our plans for morning birding. Instead of looking for Marsh and Sedge Wrens, we decided to drive the Dunedin causeway to look at shorebirds (much to David’s relief, I suspect). We enjoyed quite a few birds including our favorite Oystercatcher, but I was most excited to realize that I could confidently identify winter-plumaged Red Knots. All the shorebird study was paying off!

On Monday, Jeff and I drove to Miami to look for White-crowned Pigeons and countable exotics. We headed to a location in the middle of Miami where two pigeons had been reported on utility wires. Sure enough, we surveyed the area for 15 minutes and a White-crowned Pigeon appeared right in front of us just as we here about to leave. Life bird #1 for the trip!

Jeff’s friend, Tom Trotta, joined us for a day in the Everglades on Tuesday. Tom is President of Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge and Jeff is a volunteer with this wonderful organization. Our target bird was Short-tailed Hawk, which we failed to find, but it was a pleasant day that started with a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and produced another White-crowned Pigeon. It was much more satisfying to find a pigeon hidden in a clump of trees eating pigeon berries than to see one on a utility wire. The shy bird was well hidden, but we clearly saw was its face, white iris, and white crown. This was how birding should be.

Another highlight was finding Stilt Sandpipers. I immediately suspected that’s what we had when I saw two birds the size of Lesser Yellowlegs completely submerging their heads under water while feeding. Close scope views confirmed the field marks – a long black bill slightly drooped at the tip, the prominent white eyebrow. It was a life bird for Jeff and Tom and I was thrilled that I could make the ID. I could be the poster child for Doug and Bob’s Shorebird Workshop. “Shelley attended our workshop and now she can identify a winter-plumaged Stilt Sandpiper. You, too, can learn this birding feat!”

After another couple of pleasant days birding, it was time to head back to the St. Pete airport. We had time for one quick stop on my last day and we decided to try for the Short-tailed Hawk at St. Pete’s Sawgrass Lake Park, where they have bred in previous years. Before we reached the first observation area, a man called us over to see a Limpkin that has just eaten a snail. While watching the Limpkin, an Osprey plunged into the water 20 feet in front of us and flew off with the fish he caught. We looked up and saw a Short-tailed Hawk circling with nesting material. Life bird #2! It was a great week, but I have more birds to find in Florida. I remembered my late husband’s advice to “save something for next time.”

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January 2012

February 1, 2012 by Shelley Rutkin

Tricolored Heron at Merritt Island NWR

The moon has completed a full revolution around Earth since my last day of work and I haven’t even begun cleaning up my house.  But I have seen 149 species of birds, including 5 life birds.

January 3, the first workday of the year, was bitterly cold, but I felt an irresistible urge to get out of the house.  I drove around a bit and as I returned home, I saw dozens of both Black and Turkey Vultures patrolling my neighborhood and roosting in a backyard pine tree three houses down the street from my house.  I stopped my car in front of a neighbor’s house and stood in the street staring in amazement as the vultures flew low over the street.  My neighbor came out to ask what I was watching.  We talked a bit about the birds as we enjoyed the unusual sight.  Just as she walked back to her door, I screamed “Bald Eagle, Bald Eagle!” and she came running back.  I shared my binoculars and we watched an adult eagle fly over our heads.  This was the first time that I had met this neighbor, yet we jumped up and down and hugged like excited children.  She told me that she had seen the eagle perched in a tree in her backyard earlier that day, but did not know what it was.

My planned Florida trip was postponed at the last minute due to unexpected events, but my birthday was January 12 and I wanted to celebrate with birds.  On an impulse, I signed up for the Georgia Ornithological Society meeting in Tybee Beach, Georgia.  The trip got off to a wonderful start with a stop at Savannah NWR on the way to the meeting.  Three other birders were in the parking area when I arrived and we all birded the wildlife drive together.  Our sightings included a King Rail, who amazed us by walking around right out in the open.  We saw it from as close as 10-15 feet and heard it vocalize.  Life bird #1 for 2012!  The GOS meeting was great.  I continue to be impressed with both the skill and friendliness of Georgia birders.  I think that I enjoyed meeting new people as much as I enjoyed the birds.  And the meeting delivered life bird #2, a lovely, cooperative Snow Bunting on the beach with the Tybee Island shorebirds.

A few days at the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival completed my birding for the month.  I met more friendly birders and got 3 more life birds, Black Rail, Glaucous Gull, and Pomarine Jaeger.  The rail was heard only, but that’s all I expected.  I had great views of the Glaucous Gull as well as the jaeger as it harassed gulls just off shore.  In my spare time, I birded Merritt Island NWR, which has now become one of my favorite “hot spots.”

So, what did I learn with all this birding?

Female ducks CAN be identified.  Except for easy ones like Bufflehead and Ruddy Duck, I previously used the “look for the closest male” method of identifying female ducks.  Now I’m motivated to at least try to identify the females.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Gulls can be identified, too, even the sub-adults.  Now I’m also motivated to work on this group of birds.

Pay attention to Willets.  This is a beautiful underappreciated bird.  And, Eastern and Western Willet will be split, according to shorebird expert Kevin Karlson and other top birders.  Western Willets breed in the Great Plains and winter along all US coastlines and down into Mexico.  Eastern Willets breed all along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and winter in South America.  They can be distinguished by physical characteristics and voice.

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A Red Thanksgiving

November 29, 2011 by Shelley Rutkin

Red for the Red-shouldered Hawk.  Red for the color of the snake’s belly.  Red for the blood on the hawk’s foot.  Here’s the story.

I was in Florida visiting my step-daughters and their families for the holiday.  My step-daughter Debbie’s significant other, Jim, volunteered to go birding with me the day after Thanksgiving.  We started out early, but due to bad directions and spontaneous birding in unplanned locations, we arrived at Paynes Prairie’s La Chua trail at 11:00 AM.  It wasn’t particularly birdy at that time of day, but it was nice to be out on a beautiful unseasonably warm late fall day.

Between the sinkhole and the tower, someone told us that there was a hawk in the ditch by the path.  Jim quickly saw the bird and it allowed us to approach within about 25 feet.  We enjoyed close looks at this beautiful bird for 10 minutes before it dropped to the ground and thrashed wildly.  It quickly became apparent what had happened when we saw the snake.  The hawk soon stopped thrashing and sat on the ground, its legs and feet thrust forward with the snake firmly grasped in its talons.  The snake, which appeared to be about 3 feet long, writhed and flipped itself around hitting the hawk with its tail, but it was subdued within 5 minutes or so and we saw no more movement from it after about 10 minutes.  The hawk did not appear to kill the snake using any particular method; he just started eating it beginning with the head.  Jim and I were the only ones present for the initial attack, but a crowd of more than 30 people quickly gathered.  Jim had my scope on the hawk and snake and we shared the close-up view with others in the crowd.  Someone identified the snake as a Florida water snake, a Nerodia, but in my excitement over the hawk, I forgot to pay close attention to the snake so that I could identify it to species.  Since then I’ve learned that there are 3 Nerodia species on the Paynes Prairie snake list.  Amazingly, the hawk tolerated all the attention for 20-30 minutes before it finally drug its lunch to the other side of the ditch and into the weeds.

A little research into the diet of Red-shouldered Hawks reveals that snakes are common prey.  According to Kenn Kaufman in “Lives of North American Birds”:

“Diet: Includes small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds.  Diet varies with region and season.  Main items often mammals such as voles and chipmunks, at other times frogs and toads; may eat many crayfish in some areas.  Also eats snakes, small birds, mice, large insects, occasionally fish, rarely carrion.”

This eHow article elaborates on the seasonal diet differences:

“The menu of the red-shouldered hawk changes from winter to summer. In the colder months the hawk hunts and eats warm-blooded prey such as small mammals and other birds. However, the bird prefers to eat cold-blooded creatures like crayfish, bugs, frogs, and snakes when the opportunity presents itself in the hot days of summer.”

And, finally, Wingmasters suggests that snakes are an apparent favorite food of Red-shouldered Hawks.

“In fact, red-shoulders may have a more varied diet than any other North American raptor. Just about everything alive is on the menu, from insects, spiders, crustaceans and fish up to mammals the size of young rabbits and squirrels. Reptiles and amphibians are frequently eaten, with snakes an apparent favorite.”

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What I Learned from Bob and Doug (Shorebird Workshop)

August 14, 2011 by Shelley Rutkin

Doug Buri and Bob Janssen provide great information at their annual Shorebird Workshop.  Here are some of the useful tips that I learned from them:

  • Don’t agonize over determining leg color.  Instead, compare it to the color of the bill.  Is it the same or different?
  • If you find a sandpiper in a wooded pond, it’s probably a Solitary Sandpiper.  Spotted Sandpipers prefer more open habitat.
  • Stilt Sandpipers look similar to Lesser Yellowlegs, but their feeding styles are completely different.  Yellowlegs are dainty visual feeders.  Stilt Sandpipers probe for food in belly-deep water and frequently submerge their heads completely under water.
  • Feeding flocks of Short-billed Dowitchers are usually silent; flocks of Long-billed Dowitchers are generally noisy at any time of the year.
  • Dowitchers can be identified by plumage.  Experts Cin-Ty Lee and Andrew Birch explain it in this article.
  • How can you distinguish Greater Yellowlegs from Lesser Yellowlegs?  If it looks big enough to eat, it’s a Greater Yellowlegs.
  • Clark’s and Western Grebes can be distinguished by their call.  Clark’s call is a single “kreeek” and the Western Grebe call is “kreeek kreeek”.  Also, Clark’s have lighter sides and Western Grebes have sides the same color as the back.  (Yes, a grebe is not a shorebird.  We did look at a few other species.)

And some shorebird info from other sources:

  • Male Pectoral Sandpipers are much larger than females (96 grams vs. 65 grams) and are even heavier than Killdeer (90 grams).  This is so that they can puff themselves up to impress the females.
  • Any Western/Semipalmated type Sandpiper seen between mid-Nov and late March (except south Florida) is certain to be a Western.
  • Peeps are tough, but Cameron Cox provides a different approach that I found really helpful.  Identification of North American Peeps appeared in the July/August 2008 issue of Birding magazine.

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The Rest of My Life: The Preview

August 13, 2011 by Shelley Rutkin

December 29, 2011, will be my last day of work before retirement.  I’ve begun to refer to the time starting January 1, 2012, as “The Rest of My Life”.  It feels like a new life will begin, one in which I will have wonderful adventures and do things that are really important rather than just work for a paycheck.  And, of course, most of those anticipated adventures will include seeing wonderful new birds.

As my new friend and birding buddy, Diane, and I were on our way back to her home near Minneapolis from the Shorebird Workshop last week, we talked about the places we dreamed of visiting.  Diane said “you should write about the trips you take” and I replied with “who would read it?”  When Diane said that she would read about my travels, I impulsively replied “OK, I’ll do it.”  The trip that we had just finished did indeed seem like a preview of the many trips that I hope to take in the future.

The Shorebird Workshop had been great fun, but the bird that was responsible for our birder’s high that day was not a shorebird at all, but a little brown sparrow.  I did not really expect to get any life birds on that trip, but I had a short list of remote possibilities.  On the first day, Doug held two fingers half an inch apart and said there was that much a chance of finding Henslow’s Sparrow.  He and Kim Eckert had been keeping in touch all weekend, and in the final hour of the final day, he got a report from Kim that they had seen the Henslow’s.

A few minutes later, about a mile east of The Nature Conservancy’s Plover Prairie in Lac Qui Parle County, Minnesota, about 18 birders stood and held our breath as Bob played the Henslow’s song.  Yes!  The bird answered and a few of us had brief views of the bird.  A female Harrier glided across the prairie and the sparrow disappeared for a few minutes.  And then it returned closer than the first time.  It perched in the open and sat in the same spot about 75 feet from us for at least 5 minutes.  Everything was perfect.  Yes, absolutely perfect.  The weather was just the right temperature with the slightest hint of a breeze.  The light was perfect for seeing all the color and detail of the sparrow.  The sparrow even chose a perch easily found.  “See the Monarch on the thistle?  Look a foot to the right.”  Judith was happy that she had helped me get my first look, my life look, with her scope.  Gary was beaming as he generously allowed me to indulge in long lingering looks with his wonderful new 80mm Kowa.  We were all beyond happy.  We were lost in that perfect moment of shared joy among birders.

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