20JULY2008
Kate and I saw three Least Sandpipers and this larger sandpiper at Rio Blanco Lake today. I am not positive of the id. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dona
I'm not so confident with shorebirds, but I think it's a Baird's sandpiper. The wings extend beyond the tail; the buffy breast, head, and back; the dark spots along the scapulars and bill length about right seem okay to be that. It's too buffy for a white-rumped, bill too slender and black for a pectoral, not sure why to say it's not a knot. Also it's too buffy for a phalarope. It doesn't have the big-eyed look of a buff-breasted sandpiper. What else could it be?