[TN-Bird] "Possible Little Stint" follow up
- From: Scott Somershoe <Scott.Somershoe@xxxxxx>
- To: TN-Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 04:22:09 +0000
Sorry for the much delayed follow up to the “possible Little Stint” report from
Ensley in Memphis on Wednesday. There was too much to do with co-leading the
bird course all day Wednesday (and today), assessing photos, learning more
about the peeps, and the fine details of plumage and other characteristics of
the birds before I could post one way or the other. I thank Chris Sloan for
quickly posting it as "possible Little Stint" so others in the area could
potentially get out there and see if they could spot the oddball bird we saw.
We felt it was very important to alert others to this potential bird ASAP after
the observations we had of the bird and our knowledge of the species in
question at that time.
In very short, the bird we saw was the size of a Least Sandpiper with a bright
rufous back and head, black legs, and thin, straight bill with no droop, among
other details. It stood out like a sore thumb from the small number of browner
and more golden Least Sandpipers that it was hanging out with and was very easy
to pick out among the 150+ Semipalmated Sandpipers in the larger flock. We
both independently spotted it with our scopes at about 125m and later viewed it
from about 70m under good light conditions (all picts are useless from 70m+).
It was clearly a very different looking peep. The bird was much redder and
brighter than even a juvenile plumage Least Sandpiper.
The details we saw on the bird at 70m appeared to eliminate everything but a
Little Stint, hence the post on TN-Birds. In the end, our independently
written field notes do not eliminate Least Sandpiper. Notes were completed
before skimming through all the field guides and the Shorebird Guide by
O'Brien, Crossley, and Karlson. In fact, two specific details we noted are
wrong for Little Stint (which I was not aware of at the time), including size
of the bird (all stints are a bit larger than a Least and are almost
Semipalmated Sandpiper size, while I actually thought the bird appeared
slightly smaller) and wing projection was not long enough (wings did not
protrude beyond the tail). The aforementioned specific plumage characteristics
and size differences we did not know about in the field, which now leads me to
believe the bird was not a stint.
The bird we watched was the oddest peep I've ever seen; however all photos
where you can actually see a bird are Least Sandpipers. From the combined
evidence of the details we saw, additional info from discussions about ID and
plumage variations, and lots of photos of Least Sandpipers, I feel that
realistically it was likely a Least Sandpiper with some very odd features (some
mentioned above). The bird was very much an oddball.
Regardless, it was a very interesting bird and with the knowledge we had at the
time, I felt it important to give the chance to others to check it out. That
bird was very much a weirdo! I learned a lot about the finer details of these
birds as a result. Birding is always an adventure and learning experience!
Time for sleep!
Good (albeit confusing) birds!
Scott Somershoe
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