[MDOsprey] Fwd: [BIRDWG01] Siberian shorebird pulse to the Atlantic Coast
Phil Davis (pdavis@ix.netcom.com)
Sat, 24 Jul 1999 21:49:36 -0400
Glad to see all the focus and attention on Maryland shorebirds. Thought
MD_Ospreyians would find this message from Birdwg01 to be of
interest. Keep those European and Asian field guides in your car when you
head to the eastern shore ... !!!
Phil
>Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 21:33:55 -0400
>Reply-To: "P. A. Buckley" <pabuckley@GSOSUN1.GSO.URI.EDU>
>Sender: NBHC ID-FRONTIERS Frontiers of Field Identification
> <BIRDWG01@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
>From: "P. A. Buckley" <pabuckley@GSOSUN1.GSO.URI.EDU>
>Subject: [BIRDWG01] Siberian shorebird pulse to the Atlantic Coast
>To: BIRDWG01@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
>
>In the last month or so, the following Siberian/Palaearctic shorebirds have
>been credibly reported on the Atlantic coast. As is typical of southbound
>shorebird vagrants early in the season, all have [probably] been
>breeding-plumaged adults:
>
>Wood Sandpiper in Maine
>Red-necked Stint in Massachusetts
>Little Stint at Cape May,
>
>and earlier this week,
>
>Spotted Redshank on Long Island, NY,
>
>and then today,
>
>Mongolian Plover in RI.
>
>As well, there have already been several Ruffs in New England, more than
>normal, although I am unaware of any Curlew Sandpipers, another July
>speciality, yet.
>
>[A Terek Sandpiper on Trinidad in this same period, only the second known
>from South America, probably fits this model, as may the _variegatus_
>Whimbrel found mid June in the California desert.]
>
>While late June-July Siberian shorebirds are an expected and eagerly
>awaited, near-annual phenomenon, the richness and widespread nature of this
>array seems out of the ordinary.
>
>Among the panoply of potential players on this stage, at one time or
>another most Palaearctic shorebirds have already made it to the Atlantic
>Coast. But those that have NOT yet done so, and which observers might do
>well to be thinking about, include the following, some of which present
>serious ID challenges:
>
>Little Ringed Plover
>Marsh Sandpiper
>Green Sandpiper
>Grey-tailed Tattler
>Common Sandpiper
>Little Curlew
>Far Eastern Curlew
>_melanuroides_ Black-tailed Godwit
>Great Knot
>Temminck's Stint
>Long-toed Stint
>Spoon-billed Sandpiper
>[Eurasian] Common Snipe
>Pintail Snipe, and
>Oriental Pratincole.
>
>Two other North American endemics that migrate long distances are also
>overdue on the Atantic Coast, yet my guess is that most observers have
>probably never considered them possible there:
>
>Bristle-thighed Curlew, and
>Surfbird.
>
>But how many remember that Surfbird has occurred in Alberta, inland in
>California, more than once in both Florida and Texas, and as close to the
>Atlantic Coast as Presque Isle on Lake Erie, in PENNSYLVANIA?
>
>The remaining three North American endemics that have never made it to the
>Atlantic (or Gulf) Coast -- Black Turnstone, Black Oystercatcher, and Rock
>Sandpiper -- have to date shown no history of long-distance vagrancy.
>
>But still: how many of us have REALLY looked closely at wintering Purple
>Sandpipers -- especially on the Great Lakes?
>
>Finally, five more shorebirds with a good history of long-distance vagrancy
>remain to be recorded anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. It's probably
>only a matter of time, patience, skill, and luck before each is detected,
>most more than likely as southbound adults in early to mid summer:
>
>Greater Sandplover
>Caspian Plover
>Nordmann's Greenshank
>Asiatic Dowitcher, and
>Great Snipe.
>
>And July used to be a such a dull time...
>
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>P.A. Buckley
>Box 8 @ Grad Sch Oceanogr
>University of Rhode island
>Narragansett RI 02882
>
>pabuckley@gsosun1.gso.uri.edu
>
>01-401-874-4201 (o)
>01-401-874-6887 (fx)
>
>'In the fields of observation, chance favors only the mind
>that is prepared' : Louis Pasteur
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Phil Davis
home: PDavis@ix.netcom.com Davidsonville, Maryland USA
work: PDavis@OAO.com Greenbelt, Maryland USA
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