Short version...what species are represented by these dowitchers seen in Ashland yesterday? http://www.pbase.com/rbrady/dowitcherid http://www.pbase.com/nanich/dowitchers Longer version... Sam Krerowicz found three dowitchers just west of Ashland yesterday and then Nick Anich and I headed out to take a look after work. We didn't have much time and expected Short-billeds, even though it's slightly earlier (by about a week) than we usually see them. We walked up and tried turning them into Long-billeds. We thought we might have 1 LB and 2 SBs at one point and then convinced ourselves they were all just the expected SBs as LBs are quite rare here. We soon left to return to our fatherly duties but later last night that ID didn't sit well with us. After some chatting Nick and I started to convince ourselves that Bird C had to be a LB. Then we were leaning toward all 3 being LBs. Then we were just downright confused. And here we are...confused. This is a tough ID and one Nick and I frankly are not comfortable with. We butchered the whole process as we could've had killer photos of the birds in perfect light but our hurriedness resulted in mostly poor digiscopes and heavily cropped dSLR shots, which are in the two galleries above. What do you think? I've labeled the individuals in my gallery for ease of referencing Birds A, B, and C during discussion. Ryan Brady Washburn, Bayfield County, WI http://www.pbase.com/rbrady #################### You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding Network (Wisbirdn). To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn