vious rusty feather edges on the upperparts,

their bills are decurved , and their legs can

easily appear black when muddy or when

seen in poor light or at a distance.

-Dunlins and White-rumped Sandpipers

when in juvenile plumage or when molting

from juvenile into winter/basic plumage are

also possible sources of confusion: both have

bills which droop at the tip, black legs and

rusty feather edges on the upperparts; also

the underparts streaking on breeding/alternate

plumaged White-rumpeds and Westerns is

similar and may also lead to misidentifica-

tion .

-A peep in full winter/basic plumage in

Minnesota that appears to be a Semipal mated

or Western, is almost certainly not a Semi,

since Semipalmateds in this plumage are sel-

dom if ever seen this far north; however, be

aware that winter/basic plumaged Sanderl-

ings can easily be miscalled Westerns.

-Do not attempt to identify aWestern with

the aid of the Peterson or Robbins or even,

surprisingly enough, the Geographic field

guides; all three, especially the first two, are

inadequate in their coverage of this difficult

identification problem.

-Do not attempt to identify a Western un-

less you have the aid of either or both of the

following references: Shorebirds: An Identifi-

cation Guide to the Waders of the World by

Hayman, Marchant and Prater; and the article

"Field Identification of Smaller Sandpipers

Within the Genus Calidris" By Veit and

Jonsson , published in American Birds

38:853-876 and reprinted in 41 :212-236. Also

highly recommended is the sandpipers sec-

tion of Volume I of The Audubon Society

Master Guide to Birding; the photographs are

especially helpful (although it should be

noted that the winter plumaged Semipalmated

Sandpiper photo is probably a Western) .

-Finally, and perhaps most importantly,

remember that Western Sandpiper identifica-

tion is a difficult task and that there is no

reason to feel defensive or frustrated or even

angry if errors are made: many experienced

birders, including this writer, have been mis-

led into misidentifications until the three refer-

ences recommended above became available.

The following records were voted on July-

December 1988, and found to be Acceptable:

-Prothonotary Warbler, 8/ 1-5/87, near Park

Rapids, Hubbard Co. (vote 7-0; The Loon

60:129).

Spring 1989

-Williamson's Sapsucker, 5/21-30/88 ,

Itasca S.P. , Hubbard Co. (vote 7-0; The

Loon 60:124-125).

-Sprague's Pipit, 6/26/88, near Aitkin, Ait-

kin Co. (vote 5-2; The Loon 60:187).

-Blue Grosbeak , 711-7/88, Felton Prairie,

Clay Co . (vote7-0; TheLoon60:129-130).

-Least Tern , 7/30/88, Lake Wilson , Murray

Co . (vote 7-0; The Loon 60:135).

-White-faced Ibis, 4/23/88, Salt L., Lac Qui

Parle Co. (vote 7-0; The Loon 60:137).

-Laughing Gull , 5/5/88 , Duluth, St. Louis

Co. (vote 7-0; The Loon 60:134).

-Baird's Sparrow, 6/24/88, Felton prairie,

Clay Co. (vote7-0; TheLoon60:132-133).

-Great Black-backed Gull , 5/5/88, Duluth,

St. Louis Co . (vote7-0; TheLoon60:134) .

-House Finch, 6115-8/6/88, Albert Lea,

Freeborn Co. (vote7-0; TheLoon60:186) .

-Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, 8/2-8/88, near

Ely , St. Louis Co . (vote 7/0; The Loon

60:179-180).

-Ruff, 8/9-14/88, French L., Hennepin Co .

(vote 7-0; The Loon 60:181).

-Greater Scaup, 9114/88, Sleepy Eye ,

Brown Co . (vote 6-1) .

-Ruff, 8/21 /88, Geis L. , Scott Co. (vote

7-0; The Loon 60:181) .

-Say ' s Phoebe, 9/26/88, near Rochester,

Olmsted Co. (vote 7/0; The Loon 60:180-

181).

- Black-legged Kittiwake, 1118/88, Hast-

ings , Dakota Co. (vote 7-0; The Loon

60: 187-188).

-Long-billed Curlew, 10/9/88, near L.

Swenoda, Pope Co. (vote 7-0; The Loon

60: 186) .

-Red-throated Loon , 5/27/88, Duluth , St.

Louis Co., (vote 7-0; The Loon 60:186) .

-Pacific Loon , 10/21 /88, Duluth, St. Louis

Co. (vote 7-0).

-Carolina Wren, 10/29-30/88, Coon

Rapids, Anoka Co. (vote 7-0; The Loon

60:188-189) .

-Magnificent Frigatebird, 1011 /88, Acacia

Cemetery, Dakota Co . (vote 10-0;). All ten

members vote in cases of potential first state

records .

-Louisiana Waterthrush, 8/9/88, Lake

Bronson S.P., Kittson Co . (vote 7-0; The

Loon 61:46-47)

-Lesser Black-backed Gull, 9111-14/88,

Diamond L., Hennepin Co. (vote 7-0; The

Loon 61:44-45).

-King Eider, 10/30-11/2/88, Grand Marais,

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