[mou] Curlew Sandpiper Report

[Leo]

Hello all!
We spotted a adult male breeding plumage Curlew Sandpiper on the west 
end of Lake Byllesby! We got there at around 8:30am, waited for a long 
time for birds to show up, and at around 11:00am we spotted a red 
sandpiper across the lake in the reeds with Least Sandpipers and Lesser 
Yellowlegs. We actually first IDed it as a Red Knot after watching it 
for an hour and a half or so. It kept flying away with the peeps, then 
sailing back a little later to almost the same spot. The location we 
spotted it was this: From the parking lot, continue down the trail til 
you get to the woods and find a semi-path leading into the woods. If you 
continue down that path, eventually you get to a clearing on the shore. 
I stuck a large stick in the ground where we spotted it, but it might 
have blown over.
   After we left it, we ran into Skip Mott and Tom Will and told them 
about it. We decided to go and help them find it after we told them. We 
walked back to the spot and tried to relocate it. After a long time, it 
showed up with a flock of Pectoral Sandpipers in the pool behind the 
sand spit. Skip Mott and Tom Will watched it for a long time with us, 
and Tom started to suggest that it might not be a Red Knot, and 
eventually that it had to be a Curlew Sandpiper. Some of the differences 
we noticed were that it was a little smaller than the Pectoral 
Sandpipers, it had moderately long legs, and wasn't as plump and dumpy 
as a Red Knot should be. When the birds again flew off to land a little 
ways away we noticed a down-curved bill against the water and we saw a 
VERY sharp contrast in the wings of red, white, and black. It also 
didn't have as thick a bill as a Red Knot should have.
   The bird was still there when we left at around 1:10 pm.
Also there was a single Marbled Godwit, scattered Dunlins, many Pectoral 
Sandpipers, a single female Wilson's Phalarope, many peeps, and many 
Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.

Thanks again to Skip Mott and Tom Will for helping us properly ID the bird!

 - Leo WM