Les,
   I am puzzled by your statement that the female Ruff was "clearly much larger than even the largest of the Greater Yellowlegs". I believe male Ruffs average slightly smaller than Greater Yellowlegs and females are about the size of a Lesser Yellowlegs. Could you clear that up for me please? Thanks.
--
Bob Ringler
Eldersburg MD


---- Les Roslund <> wrote: 
> The female RUFF (Reeve if you prefer) was present and available for viewing
> today, after having eluded several local birders yesterday.  Professor Shep
> Krech, III, grew up close to the Pickering Creek site, and apparently was
> visiting the region during the past weekend.  Krech provided the initial
> report of this bird.  He found it on Saturday.
>  
> Today the bird was present in the new ponds beside Presquile Road at noon,
> and again around 5:00 in the late afternoon.  It is a 'scope-bird', but a
> very nice 'scope-bird'.  This female is in full breeding plumage, with the
> dark breast lines/splotches sharply setting her off from the large number of
> Yellowlegs (Greater and Lesser) that were also present.  She is clearly much
> larger than even the largest of the Greater Yellowlegs.  The white region at
> the base of her bill also helps draw one's eye to her.  She was a bit bossy,
> chasing several of the little peeps around.  Sometimes she loitered in the
> presence of a couple of the yellowlegs, but at other times she was just as
> likely to be resting beside some of the ducks.  She likes being in the
> grass, so can readily disappear if she chooses.  Perhaps that is what she
> had done yesterday.
>  
> The "new-pond" project includes several new ponds on land west of the ponds
> that were dug at Pickering Creek a few years ago.  Today the Ruff was
> favoring the shallow pond that is the farthest to the west along Presquile
> Road.  A berm blocks viewing from Presquile Road, but there is a place south
> of the pond where one can pull a  car into a field entrance point, and then
> walk (stealthily) up to the berm for the viewing.
>  
> Besides the birds mentioned above, that site also held several Pectoral
> Sandpipers, several Least Sandpipers, a couple of Semipalmated Plovers, a
> couple of pair of Blue-winged Teal and many Green-winged Teal.  
>  
> Elsewhere on the Pickering Creek grounds today there were two beautiful male
> Baltimore Orioles, a Palm Warbler, and several Common Yellowthroats.
>  
> Les Roslund
> 
> Talbot County
> Easton MD 21601
>