El Paso and Gridley Shorebirds

On August 1 at El Paso Sewage Treatment Center, I saw the Stilt Sandpiper shown above, which appeared to be in an intermediate plumage, still maintaining the thick barring on the chest and belly, but already turning gray. I do not think I have ever seen one in breeding plumage, but I love this intermediate plumage for the Stilts because in this plumage, they have purple tones in the right light. Here is another photo of the same bird.



This afternoon, I saw another Stilt Sandpiper. Only this one appeared to be a juvenile, and was quite different in appearance to the adult I had seen earlier in the month. It lacks any barring, yet maintains rufous coloring on its auriculars (cheek), crown, back, wings, and sides.





This bird was feeding with a group of four Lesser Yellowlegs, and it was nice to see the two species side by side. I love taking photos of different sandpiper species together for comparison. I was unable to photograph them simultaneously in the same position, but it is easy from these photos to see the contrast between the almost orange yellow legs of the yellowlegs with the yellow green legs of the Stilt. It was also interesting to observe the differences in bill length and shape, plumage, size, and body shape between the two species.







Perhaps this shot I took on August 1 of the adult Stilt Sandpiper and another Lesser Yellowlegs better shows the differences in size and shape and bill length and shape. Furthermore, the facial differences are apparent--the eye ring of the yellowlegs on the left in contrast to the bold supercilium of the Stilt Sandpiper on the right.



But that is enough comparison for now. Here are some photos of the other species I saw today at El Paso. After spending a fair amount of time observing the Stilt Sandpiper, I noticed this Baird's Sandpiper in the midst of a group of smaller peeps.





And here is one of the Semipalmated Sandpipers with one of the Least Sandpipers.



The peeps were bathing and preening when out of nowhere, first one, then two Semipalmated Plovers showed up. One of them took a bath.











Here is one more of the juvenile Stilt Sandpiper with one of the yellowlegs . . .



Here are a few more from earlier in the summer at El Paso . . .







El Paso has been very good for shorebirds so far this migration thanks in part to Jim McWilliams, the Wastewater Operator, who leaves a little water in the Northeast lagoons, which would otherwise be empty, for the birds.

Here is my shorebird list for the day.

Semipalmated Plover 2
Killdeer 12
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 3
Lesser Yellowlegs 4
Semipalmated Sandpiper 5
Least Sandpiper 4
Baird's Sandpiper 1
Stilt Sandpiper 1

Here are a couple from Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds in McLean County, which have not been as good so far this Summer because the West lagoons which at times provide nice little mudflats, have been either full or completely empty.





August 26, 2013

I stopped by El Paso again today during lunch and found a few shorebirds. Aside from the usual Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers, there was a Semipalmated Sandpiper, two Least Sandpipers, and three Baird's Sandpipers.

Here is the Semipalmated . . .



Here is one of the Leasts . . .



. . . And here are the Baird's Sandpipers . . .







Here is the Semipalmated with the three Baird's Sandpipers . . .



. . . And here is the Least with two of the Baird's Sandpipers . . .



Then at Gridley, I found a Semipalmated Sandpiper with a broken wing. When I first saw it, I thought it was a starling. It looked really tattered and dark, like it had something on it's feathers, but I think it was just really wet.









I took the bird to Matt Fraker, who was going to give the bird some mealworms and a place to stay for the night. According to Matt, its chances of survival did not look good, but we will see what happens.