[MDOsprey] Little Stint
stamps@sea-east.com
Thu, 15 Jul 1999 15:06:17 -0400
Gail and I saw the Little Stint today at Cape May, NJ (shhhh, don't tell
Norm). Two points, one concerning location, the other the bird.
LOCATION: It's at the Higbee Beach dredge spoil impoundment. When you
get to the end of the road to Higbee Beach there are three dirt trails
for you to choose from. The correct one is the one to the right. Follow
that until you just come out of the woods. The walk is only a few
hundred yards. The impoundment is on the right. The dike surrounding the
impoundment is about 20 feet tall and the sides are covered with
fragmites. At the corner of the dyke where you first come to it, there
is a narrow beaten trail up the side. Take that. At the top you will see
two spurs that go into the center of the dyke. The bird was on the other
side of the closest spur. Where you view the bird from depends upon the
sun angle. In the morning the sun is into your eyes if you try to view
from the first spur. If you go in the morning, go around to your right
when you get to top of the dyke. You should be able to see the bird
adequately from somewhere along the right side.
THE BIRD: Unless you are very familiar with the bird, or you are very
close to it when you first see it, you will likely overlook it. It isn't
very brightly colored. The upper breast is a mauve leaning to buff, or
buff leaning to mauve, take your pick. The most obvious thing about the
upper part of the breast to the base of the bill is that the throat is
white, so that the mauve color looks somewhat like a breast band. The
head, neck, back and wings of the bird are lighter colored than the many
Least Sandpipers that are around. But you need a proper lighting angle
to see this. The color is nowhere near as bright as the various field
guides and other books show. There are two white strips down the bird's
back - almost like a snipe, but not as prominent. The legs are
definitely black, and that is the best way to eliminate the Leasts from
further consideration. The bird is the size of a Least, so most of the
time you won't confuse it with the many Semipalmated or Western
Sandpipers.
However, the best way to find the bird may be to come late enough in
the morning that the bird has already been found by the many other
birders that will likely be there.
Charlie & Gail Vaughn
1306 Frederick Avenue
Salisbury, MD 21801
stamps@sea-east.com