Art,
This is a juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher, one of the prettiest shorebirds we see around here in my opinion. Note the very fresh plumage with crisp edgings on the back and wings. With juvenile dowitchers, the patterning on the tertials separates Short-billed from Long-billed. On a Long-billed the tertials would be a flat gray color without the patterning. Most field guides illustrate this feature well, but I highly recommend picking up one of the specialty shorebird guides as well.
Good birding,
Matt Hafner
Forest Hill, MD
On Aug 8, 2012, at 6:51 PM, Art Drauglis <lwsyrup...> wrote:
> I was able to spend a few minutes at Bladensburg Waterfront Park this morning about an hour after low tide. There were two Great Egrets, a species I rarely see at that location.
> What was truly unexpected was the presence of a single dowitcher plugging away as close to the park as it could get while staying on the mud.
> The bill length made me think that this is a Long-billed, but I would like some input on my ID
> Something spooked it and the nearby peeps; when I looked away for a second it was gone (so I did not get to hear the flight call)
> Pictures here
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/artdrauglis/7742896676/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/artdrauglis/7742895430/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/artdrauglis/7742897542/
>
> --
> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Maryland & DC Birding group.
> To change email options, visit this group on the web at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/mdbirding?hl=en
> Posts can be sent to the group by sending an email to <mdbirding...>
> Guidelines for posting are available at https://sites.google.com/site/mdbirdinghost/f/guidelines.pdf
>
>
--
|