While watching the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in Two Rivers, there were a handful of other shorebirds. At the time, Semipalmated Sandpiper was assumed to be one of them. However, after reviewing the photos, it appears it could be a Western Sandpiper. Most of these photos are heavily cropped and not what I would normally keep or share, but for this ID they are needed. I wish I would’ve spent more time taking photos when it was closer, but all my attention was focused on the SHTS. I will list the differences between WESA and SESA below. Feel free to comment with your thoughts as to which ID you believe it to be. For ID purposes, this bird is in a basic nonbreeding plumage.
Western Sandpiper
small, rather chunky shorebird
longer, slightly drooping dark bill (bill length and shape is quite variable)
larger head, heavier bodied look
dark legs
pale gray above, white below (nonbreeding plumage)
little to no streaking on the breast
whitish face
Semipalmated Sandpiper
small shorebird with short neck and small head
appears slimmer looking
short, straight dark bill (bill length and shape is quite variable)
A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was found on Wednesday morning in Two Rivers, Manitowoc County. It was just east of hwy 42 on Hillcrest Road. I wanted to go right away but had too many things going on at work. I waited until Thursday morning and got up a littler earlier than normal to drive up. I arrived about 15 minutes before sunrise, but it was light enough to make things out. I was the first person there that day, which surprised me. I parked on the side of the road, on the east end of pond. I was looking through the windows with my binoculars, but all I could see were 2 Greater Yellowlegs. There was only a small area to look through, that didn’t have shrubs or cattails. I got out of the truck and walked a little west on the road to get a different vantage point. I could faintly see a few smaller birds closer to the back corner, near the weed edge. I looked through my binocs and there it was! Woohoo!!! This was a life bird for me. In addition to the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, I found 2 Greater and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, 3 Dunlin, 3 Pectoral Sandpipers and a single Semipalmated Sandpiper. I walked back to my truck and setup my camera equipment. I saw that everything was still wet from the morning dew, so I grabbed an extra sweatshirt to sit on, and walked down into ditch and up onto the berm. I threw down the sweatshirt and set up shop. At this point, the birds were only 30′ from me, but it was still rather dark and not good enough for photos. I sat there and watched them, while it ever so slightly got lighter. It felt like the sun was moving extra slow that morning! They continued to feed fairly close for about 20 minutes or so, but lighting was still rather low. I took a bunch of photos anyway (99% did not turn out), just in case it flew off. It was finally starting to get light out when the birds flew to the other side of the pond. I waited around my spot for a while, but they continued feeding on the other end. By now, several people had arrived to see it. I decided to walk down to the other end. I got a few good shots of it in the sunlight, and it took off, with 3 Dunlin and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs. Most of the times, shorebirds will fly a bit and circle back around and land in the same general area. I watched them fly with binoculars and it seemed like they were going farther away than usual. They circled back around but went down into a pond further off the road. I saw the general area they went and decided to walk back there. They ended up about 300 yards off the road, but not visible from it. I saw them briefly, but that was it. I returned to the road and there were about 15 people now. I let everyone know where it had gone and where it was. I said it was not worth trying to go back there but hope that it returns to this pond. Several of us were standing around talking when someone said, “birds just flew in from the north and landed on the far side of the pond.” We walked over there to look, and it was the 3 Dunlin that had left before, but still missing the SPTS and LEYE. While most of the people waited, we were watching the other shorebirds. They were pretty close to us and made for some good photo ops. After 45 minutes or so, I heard a single “tu” call and thought it was the Lesser Yellowlegs from earlier. I made a comment about hearing it and two others said they did too. I never saw anything though. Five minutes later, something caught my eye, all the way on the eastern edge of the pond. I looked through the cattails with my camera and saw a bird that appeared more reddish. I said, “I think I’ve got it!”. Everyone walked over to the other side. There it was again! It must’ve flown in when I heard that single call note. The bird was tucked back into the corner, behind two clumps of grass. It made its way out into the open and everyone was able to get a look at it. Shortly after, it flew to the other side and joined the group of birds. It was there that it put on quite a show! What a beautiful bird! The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is an ABA code 3 bird. It is very uncommon, and I missed out on the one at Horicon several years ago. I was very excited to see this one, especially at such close range. It was a great morning out, with good friends and meeting a few new ones. Photos below are from Thursday morning. Enjoy!
