this odd sandpipper is definitely not a Stilt! If you look at the head, the Stilt always has a slanting forehead, this bird does not. And the obvious: bill shape. this bird has a shorter thicker, decurved billed. The wing tips do not extend beyond the tail like a Stilt. The warm brown tones of the plumage eliminate a couple of possible shorebirds that would not be expected (Knots) and is consistent with breeding plumage of a Reeve, a female Ruff. The Ruff is a larger bird than a Stilt. Well, actually a male Ruff is larger. A female Ruff is about the same size as a Stilt. I am off to Fairbault!
Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN sweston2 at comcast.net ----- Original Message ----- From: dan&erika To: Ricebird ; MOU net ; mnbird Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2008 12:27 PM Subject: [mnbird] odd shorebird Hi All--Yesterday, 29 Aug, Erika and I drove down to the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault, Rice Co., to check out the Stilt Sandpiper. I took photographs and got around to "developing" them late morning the next day (today), What do you make of this photo? http://www.northern.edu/tallmand/dat/misc/stiltmystery.jpg At the time I thought I was taking a photo of one of a few Stilt Sandpipers on the pond. But the bill looks way too short for a Stilt Sandpiper. The base of the bill is also an odd pink color. The bird is vaguely colored like a Ruff, but the breast is not plain like a Ruff. A second photo shows what may be the mystery bird behind an obvious Stilt Sandpiper. http://www.northern.edu/tallmand/dat/misc/stiltmystery2.jpg Note the much more obvious eyeline on the Stilt Sandpiper and its grayer coloration. Is the mystery sandpiper just an immature Stilt Sandpiper? I will be interested to hear any and all opinions. dan -- Dan or Erika Tallman Northfield, Minnesota http://danerika.googlepages.com/home http://picasaweb.google.com/danerika danerika at gmail.com ".... the best shod travel with wet feet" "Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes ...."--Thoreau ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ mnbird mailing list mnbird at lists.mnbird.net http://lists.mnbird.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mnbird -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://moumn.org/pipermail/mou-net_moumn.org/attachments/20080831/188b5842/attachment-0001.html
