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!
I had just walked down the waterfall ravine at Lake Park to search for a Louisiana Waterthrush, when I received a text from a friend. It said, “at Lakeshore State Park”. I assumed a photo was coming next. When it finally came through, I clicked on it and said to myself, “Wow, our second Purple Sandpiper of the year!” This one was different though. Instead of the usual adults in winter plumage, this was a hatch year bird! I had never seen one before, so I quickly made my way back to the truck and headed down the street to LSSP. It was on the south end of the park feeding on the rocks, near the water’s edge. It was kind of hidden and not a good angle to the sun, so I walked out onto the large rocks to the very edge. I still couldn’t see it from that angle, but just stood and waited, hoping it would come around the rock that was blocking it. After several minutes, it flew right towards me and looked like it was going to land on the rock I was standing on! It saw me and looped around, landing only 25′ away. It looked at me, trying to figure out what I was, since I wasn’t moving and wearing a bright green shirt. A few waves crashed on it and then it started feeding. I watched it at close range for about 5 minutes and then it flew back to the original rock it was on. Guess I was really lucky that day! Photos below are from 9/15. Enjoy!
In continuation from my post on the ibis’ at Horicon Marsh, I also had 2 Red-necked Phalarope. They landed right in front of me and I didn’t even know it. I was watching a White-rumped Sandpiper and I kept hearing something to the right of me. I finally turned and saw 2 additional birds where a Lesser Yellowlegs was feeding. I looked at them and I saw they were phalaropes! I’m like, “holy crap!” I turned my camera and they took off. Bummer, I thought I missed an excellent opportunity to photograph these birds at close range. I didn’t even even get to see what they were either. As I said before, all of the shorebirds would take flight every 5 or 10 minutes. They fly around and come back to a different area, pretty common for these birds. This had just happened, and I saw the phalaropes land a little ways away from the larger group. I got my binoculars on them and realized they Red-necked Phalaropes, in full breeding plumage!!! It appeared to be a pair. I got really excited! I got my camera on both and got a view photos. After a minute or so, they took flight again, but this time the phalaropes landed right back by me. I started snapping pictures as they swam in circles feeding like crazy. I was still sitting in the same spot as when the Ibis’ flew in, which was a little bit too far left of good lighting. I figured I would not be able to move, because they would take off, but then I looked through my camera again and saw my batteries were flashing. “Oh no, now I had to move!” I moved very slowly up and out, back up to the road. They didn’t fly, whew! I walked very fast down to my car and swapped out batteries. When I came back they were still in the same spot, feeding with the yellowlegs. This time, I positioned myself with the sunlight directly behind me, for perfect lighting. I crouched down and crept back down to the rocks and got setup again. They still didn’t fly! The 3 birds fed right in front of me for about 30 minutes, only moving side to side. The phalaropes appeared to be following the yellowlegs around, shadowing his movements. 2000 pictures and an hour later, I figured I should have enough! I got up slowly and went back up to the road. They continued feeding and I walked back to my car. Along the way back, I told everyone who was farther down that there were 2 Red-necked Phalaropes feeding at the other end. In addition to the Red-necked Phalaropes, there were also 2 Wilson’s Phalaropes, 2 Black-necked Stilts, 1 White-rumped Sandpiper, 1 Baird’s Sandpiper, 66 Dunlin, 20+ Semipalmated Plovers and Sandpipers, 15+ Least Sandpipers, 4 Spotted Sandpipers, both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and several Killdeer. What an amazing morning! I was hoping for a good one, but never expected that. The pair were absolutely beautiful! Photos below are from the morning. Enjoy!
For the most part, I do the majority of my picture taking in the Milwaukee area. The last few years have not been very good here for shorebirds though, this year included. We did get several Buff-breasted Sandpipers at Lakeshore State Park, which were awesome! There was also a Stilt Sandpiper in a flooded field off County Line Rd. We got two there in spring as well. The hotspot around me this migration season was the Wind Lake Sod Farms. There was an Upland Sandpiper, 10+ Buff-breasted Sandpipers, over 30 American Golden Plovers, several Black-bellied Plovers, a few Semipalmated Plovers, hundreds of Killdeer, 10+ Baird’s Sandpipers, 1 Sanderling and several Least, Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Most of the birds provided great looks, with a little patience. I think they had certain areas closer to the roads, that were turned over, creating good close spots for the birds this year. All the photos below were taken in August and September. Enjoy!
The last week of August has been very good for shorebird migration. We have had a very good variety, along with high numbers of birds, at the various beaches in the county. Last weekend the entire beach at Bender Park was covered in algae, some areas over ten feet wide, hosting over 30 birds. Today, there was no algae and only two birds. It really is quite amazing how it develops and then disappears, in a matter of days. Grant Park, on the other hand, has had a great algae mat for over a week now, but no birds. I’ve been checking it almost daily. On 8/21, Grant Park did however, have two juvenile Dunlin, that created quite the excitement for everyone as they were originally reported as Western Sandpipers. Along with the 2 Dunlin were 4 Sanderlings and 4 Semipalmated Sandpipers. On 8/24, Bender Park had 21 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 5 Sanderling, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers, 2 Least Sandpipers and 1 Spotted Sandpiper. On 8/25, Lakeshore State Park had 2 Baird’s Sandpipers and 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper. On 8/29, Bradford Beach had 2 Piping Plovers, 11 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 1 Ruddy Turnstone and 1 Semipalmated Plover. But depending when you were there, many of the birds might not have been seen, due to the amount of activity for the 115th Harley celebration. I didn’t arrive until about 2:30pm and I only saw the three plovers, missing out on the turnstone for a third time this year. It’s always nice to see Piping Plovers, and this time both birds were not banded. There have been shorebirds on the different beaches every day, but these are from my sightings. Now let’s hope the next few weeks bring in a couple rare ones. There are a few pictures of each bird below, with the links taking you to their individual pages and full galleries.
