Archive for August, 2018

acryptozoo: Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) #289While…

Friday, August 31st, 2018

acryptozoo:

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

#289

While chasing the Pacific Golden-Plover yesterday I was basically in shorebird heaven. There were SO MANY SHOREBIRDS roaming the thick accumulation of wrack on Goleta West Beach. One bird that intrigued me was in a large group of Sanderlings; it was just a tad bigger than they were, with a sharp demarcation between the streaked breast and the white belly. I took a bunch of (crappy) photos through my spotting scope and compared them to references when I got home.

I wish I’d been close enough to see the yellow legs, but even without that I think it’s clear enough to make the call. Pectoral Sandpiper it is. 🙂👍

Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/177593590446.

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hiimlesphotos:Pacific Golden Plover #288Libby found a Pacific…

Thursday, August 30th, 2018

hiimlesphotos:

Pacific Golden Plover

#288

Libby found a Pacific Golden-Plover on Goleta Beach out near UCSB yesterday hanging around with all the Black-bellied Plovers. Jasen and Nick were still seeing it late in the day, so I set the alarm for 4:30 and was there before sunrise this morning.

No luck. :-(

I met Brad looking for the same bird, but he didn’t see it either. So I headed home to go to work. The great thing about crack-of-dawn birding is you can see lots of great birds and still be at work by 9.

Forty-five minutes later Marge and Don posted to eBird with photos of the bird, taken right where I’d been, just after I left. Argh!

So later in the day I made another trip, and this time I found the bird; yay! When I got there I saw Brad in the distance, so I know he went back, too. He carries a camera with a ginormous lens when he’s chasing rarities, so I was hoping he saw the bird and got photos better than the blurry ones I digiscoped from a distance. And he did! Check it out.

What a gorgeous bird.

Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/177575251846.

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Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)Photo by Wikipedia user…

Wednesday, August 8th, 2018

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

Photo by Wikipedia user DickDaniels

#287

Glenn found a Cattle Egret at Devereaux Slough yesterday morning. I couldn’t get away to look for it yesterday, but I set the alarm for 4:30 a.m. and was there with my spotting scope as it was getting light this morning. Lots of egrets (Great and Snowy), but no Cattle.

It was still a lot of fun. I haven’t been to Devereaux in a while, and it was neat seeing some different birds. I headed down to Coal Oil Point after that, and what should appear in the lagoon near the beach but a Lesser Yellowlegs! I’d chased these a few times earlier in the year without success, so I was pretty excited about it. I got a bunch of (crappy) digiscoped photos, and Nick and Rob were kind enough to confirm the ID for me. Short, straight beak, not much longer than the width of the bird’s head; this one was the real deal, not like the Greater Yellowlegs I tried to turn into a Lesser back on April Fool’s Day.

Anyway, yay! Let the summer doldrums end and the list start ticking upward again. Come on, fall migrants! 😀

image

Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/176784680361.

Tags: carp without cars, birds, santa barbara county year list, leye, lesser yellowlegs. Posted in Tumblr reblogs | No Comments »