Hi all - Yesterday (July 02) afternoon I swung by Tule Lake and the Joe Fulton Trade Corridor. Tule had a bunch of Roseate Spoonbills, a few Wood Storks, a smattering of other herons, both cormorants, and a few of the larger shorebirds. The flats nearest to the viewing platforms were all dry and cracked - no shorebirds. The pond at the west end of the Joe Fulton road, as reported by Judy K a few days ago, was full of egrets (mostly Snowy), White Ibis, a half a dozen Wood Storks, Blue-winged Teal, one Fulvous Whistling-Duck, night herons, etc. Traveling down to the big ponds on the right and scanning with the scope, there were dozens of Wilson's Phalaropes swimming the pond as well as on the far shore, 15 - 20 Black Terns, Snowy and Wilson's Plovers, and lots of Least Terns, both adults and chicks. That first big pond has an area about halfway down that sticks out into the pond, with small mudflats that continue to the other side - If the water level goes down more, it splits the area into two ponds. Along the back edge was a different shorebird. My very first thought was "dang, that looks like a Curlew Sandpiper!" It was at least 400 yards away, with a lot of heat shimmer and a slight breeze - not the greatest viewing conditions. It was slightly larger than the nearby phalaropes, with a darker head, neck, and back than the phals, the bill was medium length and thicker than a phalarope's, and the legs were too long. It was actively walking along the edge of the water, picking at stuff. This is exactly what every Curlew Sandpiper has done - constantly walk the water's edge, feeding. The legs were far too long for a Dunlin, which would have been a VERY early record. However, they were too short for a Stilt Sandpiper, especially when the bird reached down to pick something off the mud - its body angle never went past the horizontal, while a Stilt Sp always angles its body down and tilts its tail way up while feeding. Eventually, a Lesser Yellowlegs came close to it, and the Lesser was clearly larger overall and taller than this bird. The Lesser also showed very white underparts, while this bird was duller whitish / gray underneath. It was not a Solitary Sandpiper nor a Spotted, as both have different silhouettes and behavioral traits. I could not make out details like eyeline / head / back patterns - it was too far and the seeing conditions were not optimal. It never flew. Try as I might, I could not find a "better" species name that I could pin on it. I went back there today (Wednesday) and did not re-find the bird. However, that does not mean that it was not nearby (I did not check Tule Lake), as there are more ponds that are not visible from the Joe Fulton Road. I will probably try again on Thursday morning, when the seeing conditions are (hopefully) better. Oh, yes, the pond at the North end of Joe Fulton had 84 Wood Storks today, but not the "big one". Clay Taylor TOS Life Member Calallen (Corpus Christi), TX Clay.taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:Clay.taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner