ML102687181

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

***Mega. One (apparently female) Ruff roosting and foraging with a flock of ~60 Semipalmated Sandpipers on a sandy beach. A towering shorebird with noteworthy long, orange legs. Separated from yellowlegs by the short, slightly curved bill, the large black centers to the back feathers with pale fringing, and the dark wedge running through the uppertail coverts when seen in flight. Facial features supporting Ruff include the cottony white ring around the base of the bill and the pinched appearance of the posterior end of the eye. We were a bit perplexed to find this Ruff feeding like a beach shorebird, instead of in a marsh or even mudflats. We had always thought that if either of us stumbled upon a Ruff in Massachusetts, it would be in the presence of yellowlegs. However, we did not see a single yellowlegs the entire day. The shorebirds were flushing frequently. After 5-10 minutes of observation, the Ruff appeared to have landed a bit further south with other shorebirds. The bird was located on the west side of the skinny section of South Monomoy (approximately here- 41.604411, -69.992130). Details will be submitted to the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

200

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/2500 sec

Dimensions

1266 pixels x 844 pixels

Original file size

851.9 KB