[obol] rockpipers

[Jeff Gilligan]

On 3/3/08 12:44 PM, "Carole Hallett" <carole.hallett at gmail.com> wrote:

> I will preface this with, "I am way out of practice with shorebird i.d": on
> 2/16/08 we saw a mixed group of shorebirds -- surfbirds, black turnstones and
> what looked like  around a dozen winter plumaged sanderlings (very pale
> plumage, dark legs and bill, white on wings in flight)  all feeding at low
> tide on the rocks just North of Yachats,OR. The rocks here are flat-topped and
> easy to walk around on.  The turnstones and surfbirds would feed right up to
> the edge of the waves while the others would stay further back, picking
> inverts off the wet rocks.  The sanderling things seemed to favor the areas
> covered with, and adjacent to, low-growing, lush, bright green algae. It was a
> strange sight to see beach birds walking around on the rocks -- a first for
> me.
>  
> Carole Hallett
> Portland, OR
> 
>> The comments about the shape of the rocks where the Sanderlings fed is
>> interesting.  In regard to the Barview Jetty, and most jetties, the rocks
>> that are used for feeding by turnstones and Surfbirds are the steep
>> wave-splashed rocks near the water line.  I don¹t think that either Dunlin or
>> Sanderlings could feed nimbly with the regular rock-lovers in that situation.
>> The bottom line though, of course, is to see the field marks that distinguish
>> Dunlin from Rock Sandpipers.  The species aren¹t really that similar ­ at
>> least if you have seen them both before.   Jeff Gilligan
> 
> 


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