[obol] (no subject)

[di4tbirds at comcast.net]

OBOL, Just returned from a 3 day trip to the coast from Florence to Bandon. On Wednesday, Sept 5, at the little bit of beach on the north side of the Crab Dock I had two what I believe were Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. My first impression was two rusty backed sandpipers, bigger than Leasts.  The legs were a dullish yellow, the bills short with a slight droop and blunt. They had dark, distinct caps with a white supercilum that extended to the base of the bill. They had  white eye rings. The breast had a few darkish streaks near the wing but these faded into a  tannish wash across the front of the breast. The belly was white. The feathers on the sides, tertials and wing coverts,  had dark centers with rufous edges. There were white lines running down the mantle. They were feeding in a small patch of vegetation on dry sand. The wind was howling and I laid on my stomach on the dune next to the parking area looking down at the birds. I studied them for about twenty minutes. I think it was a
bout 2pm.
In my three days on the coast I did not find Buff-breasted, Ruff, or Pectoral sandpipers. I did find the albino Western Sandpiper with a mixed flock of Westerns and Semi-palmated Plovers on the road to the Bandon Light house. They were in a small beach opposite the Horse camp ground. I also had a good look at a Marbled Murrelet off Simpson Reef at Cape Arago. (Thanks to the Heyerly's post.) I also had 4 Snowy Plovers on the beach in Bandon were they breed.  This morning, Friday, at 8am at Bandon Marsh, they were more than 20 Marbled Godwits, many plovers, (the ones I could see fly were all Black-bellied, Semi-palmated plovers, Westerns, Leasts and some Dowitchers. Red-necked Phalaropes were everywhere I went. I had good looks at Black Turnstones at several spots in Bandon. No Ruddy Turnstones.  Diane Horgan