ML126538101

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Very rare away from the coast. Third record for this site? Spotted by Mikey, as we were walking up to the bridge: huge orange shorebird; very long, slightly upturned, bicolored bill with pink inner half and black outerhalf; orange underparts and shoulders; slightly paler neck and face; brown eye line; brown cap; black or dark gray legs; mostly orange upper and underwings seen in flight, except for partially black secondary coverts, which could also be seen on the resting bird. Bird tracked constantly by one of us at all times, as we waited to see where it would fly with the rising tide. For the majority of the time, the bird fed out in the open near the gulls, once being harassed by a Ring-billed Gull and once by a juvenile Laughing Gull, but for a 5-10 minute period, the bird was hidden behind spadderdock. As a rain storm moved through, and the river covered most of the mudflats, the bird picked up and started flying NE. Just before it would've entered Maryland airspace, the bird turned west and was lost from sight behind an apartment building. It appeared that it might've turned north after that and continued in that same direction along the river line. Photos:

Technical information

Model

DSC-N2

ISO

160

Focal length

11.9 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.0

Shutter speed

1/400 sec

Dimensions

1007 pixels x 714 pixels

Original file size

645.43 KB