[mou] [mnbird] odd shorebird

[Steve Weston]

this odd sandpipper is definitely not a Stilt!  If you look at the head, the Stilt always has a slanting forehead, this bird does not.  And the obvious: bill shape.  this bird has a shorter thicker, decurved billed.  The wing tips do not extend beyond the tail like a Stilt.  The warm brown tones of the plumage eliminate a couple of possible shorebirds that would not be expected (Knots) and is consistent with breeding plumage of a Reeve, a female Ruff.  The Ruff is a larger bird than a Stilt.  Well, actually a male Ruff is larger.  A female Ruff is about the same size as a Stilt.   I am off to Fairbault!  

Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN
sweston2 at comcast.net 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: dan&erika 
  To: Ricebird ; MOU net ; mnbird 
  Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2008 12:27 PM
  Subject: [mnbird] odd shorebird


  Hi All--Yesterday, 29 Aug, Erika and I drove down to the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault, Rice Co., to check out the Stilt Sandpiper.  I took photographs and got around to "developing" them late morning the next day (today),

  What do you make of this photo?  http://www.northern.edu/tallmand/dat/misc/stiltmystery.jpg
  At the time I thought I was taking a photo of one of a few Stilt Sandpipers on the pond.  But the bill looks way too short for a Stilt Sandpiper.  The base of the bill is also an odd pink color.  The bird is vaguely colored like a Ruff, but the breast is not plain like a Ruff.

  A second photo shows what may be the mystery bird behind an obvious Stilt Sandpiper.  
  http://www.northern.edu/tallmand/dat/misc/stiltmystery2.jpg
  Note the much more obvious eyeline on the Stilt Sandpiper and its grayer coloration.  Is the mystery sandpiper just an immature Stilt Sandpiper?

  I will be interested to hear any and all opinions.

  dan

  -- 
  Dan or Erika Tallman 
  Northfield, Minnesota
  http://danerika.googlepages.com/home
  http://picasaweb.google.com/danerika 
  danerika at gmail.com

  ".... the best shod travel with wet feet" 
  "Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes ...."--Thoreau



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