ID Assistance Needed
William B Schreitz (cabmkrwbs@juno.com)
Sat, 11 Apr 1998 19:27:26 -0400
I just left a soaked, grassy field across route #50 from Sandy Point
State Park. The field is just before the large pond near Westinghouse.
There is a gate and guard house which, along with the road behind it,
divides the field in two. These eight birds I watched for thirty minutes
with a scope look much like pectoral sandpipers. Their backs are very
dark with large mottled markings. Their breasts are vertically barred and
stop abruptly in a neat, straight line. There is no apparent eye ring
but rather a clear white line over the eye (not through it). The bill is
as long as the head, straight, and orange at the base and dark over the
remaining 80% to the point. The coloring reminded me of the purple
sandpiper bills I saw just a few weeks ago at Ocean City. I could only
determine that the feet were not black. Sometimes they appeared yellow
and sometimes just pale. They sun was nearly behind me and very low.
These birds were smaller than the killdeer and slightly larger than the
red winged blackbirds, both of which shared the same field.
Do pectoral sandpipers have two-tone bills at this point of their
seasonal development? I am sure these gus settled in for the night. I
could check in the morning. The yellow book indicates that this is a
likely time for their appearance. So, what do you think?
Bill
cabmkrwbs@juno.com
4/11/98
Annapolis, MD 21401
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