[Va-bird] Ruff, Chincoteague 9 May 2012
- From: BlkVulture@xxxxxxx
- To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 12:45:21 -0400 (EDT)
Greetings,
I was able to find myself at Chincoteague Wednesday morning at about seven
AM, and ran into Wes Hetrick in the parking lot at the entrance to the
Wildlife Loop. Wes and I walked into the platform on the Marsh Trail to take
a
shot at finding the Ake/Brennan Ruff. Wes had good luck observing the
bird Tuesday.
From the platform, I saw at bird at a considerable distance that was a good
fit for a Reeve, but all I could really see was a bird that was in the
ballpark on size and shape, and with a straight bill shorter than a nearby
Lesser Yellowlegs. Wes and I pushed on, walking the road clockwise to where
we were at the last bench before we would have entered the woods on the NE
side of Snow Goose pool. We again found the suspect bird here, and it was
foraging alone for a bit before it made a short flight and was refound in
shallow water among four Greater Yellowlegs. It was the best view of the
bird that I got.
Compared to the Greater Yellowlegs, the bird was smaller and didn't stand
as tall, but was still much larger than the nearby Dunlin. It had a
relatively short, straight bill. It appeared warm brown on top (though
perhaps
more so because of how gray the day was), with a scaly appearance on the
back. It had an overall dumpy appearance, appearing saggy at the breast/upper
belly. The belly was darkish, a bit blotchy, with no even demarcation
between breast and belly. The legs were never seen well, and when the bird
eventually flew, I was never able to get on its rump. I have more notes
included in my eBird submission linked below.
Other birds here included loads of Dunlin, hundreds of Semi Plovers and
Semi Sandpipers, and a pretty Red Knot among dowitchers. None of the
dowitchers looked or sounded like Long-billeds to me. There were at least five
Stilt Sandpipers. Two Gull-billed Terns were seen as well. There are a lot
of Blue Grosbeaks among the margin between the road and the pool.
I also made a brief stop in pouring rain at Tom's Cove and Swan Cove, and
saw Marbled Godwits, Piping Plover, White-rumped Sandpiper, and another Red
Knot. I'll submit those birds to eBird later tonight or tomorrow.
Hopefully the rain will hold off some and I can do a little more birding at
Chincoteague this afternoon.
Full eBird list here:
_
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S10696335_ ;
(
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S10696335)
Cheers,
Todd
-------------------------------
Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, Virginia
Culpeper County
blkvulture@xxxxxxx
-------------------------------
Other related posts:
- » [Va-bird] Ruff, Chincoteague 9 May 2012 - BlkVulture
