Steve,

Pectorals are moving and are certainly reasonable, if not expected, this time of year. Your brief, but vague, description leaves the door open for a few other things but the habitat and location make Pectoral the most likely candidate. Next time look at the breast of the bird and look for a sharp demarcation of the clean belly from the strongly patterned chest. The birds will be a somewhat warm, buffy brown and look like Least Sandpipers on steroids.

Ed Boyd
Westminster, MD
>
> From: Steve Noyes <>
> Date: 2004/07/28 Wed PM 02:56:32 EDT
> To: 
> Subject: [MDOSPREY] shorebirds
>
> Hi All....
>
> Lake Redington at the National Wildlife Visitor Center at the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel had some good shorebirds today. This afternoon I found 3 glossy ibises, an immature little blue heron and an immature black-crowned night-heron. There were all in a radius of 100 feet in a pool of water amidst the mud flats. On Monday, I saw a group of sandpipers which I believe were pectoral sandpipers. This was based on far away looks through my scope in overcast conditions. There were about 2/3d the size of a killdeer (one was nearby) and did not have the head marking of either a solitary or a spotted sandpiper (which I also have been seeing lately). Any thoughts on the likelihood of seeing pectorals now?
>
> Steve Noyes, Volunteer Naturalist, Patuxent Research Refuge
>  or 
>
>
>
>
> Steve Noyes, Beltsville, PG County, MD 
>
> "One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin"  ......W.Shakespeare
>