ML171971251

Age and sex

Adult Female - X

Media notes

This returning female Ruff in alternate plumage was initially reported this fall on 3 August 2019 by Mike Huang and here photographed with Long-billed Dowitchers by Curtis A. Marantz on 10 August 2019 along the upper Santa Ana River in Anaheim, Orange County, California.

Observation details

This was a relatively small shorebird that was roughly comparable in size to the Long-billed Dowitchers with which it was associated, albeit with a slightly smaller body and a shape that was probably closer to that of a yellowlegs given the longer neck, slimmer body, and longer legs. It also walked about more while picking at the surface as opposed to probing into the deeper water as did the dowitchers. I suspect the bill was as long as the head was wide, if not slightly longer, and it appeared to be stouter throughout its length than that of a yellowlegs and ending in a blunt tip. I thought the forehead was at least reasonably steep and that the crown was rounded on a head that was small relative to the body. Moreover, the relatively slim neck was longer than those of the dowitchers, so this bird seemed to stand above them even though the body was slightly smaller or at least slimmer. I thought the wingtips reached at least to the tail, but it was difficult to be sure, and I failed altogether to note the primary projection. When seen in flight, this bird had a gap in the region of the inner primaries, if not the outer secondaries on one or both wings, suggesting that it was probably in wing molt. I saw the tail only briefly when the bird was in flight, but it appeared to be short and either square-tipped or weakly rounded. The legs appeared to be somewhat longer than those of the dowitchers, but I did not note an obvious difference in the mass. I did not see the feet very well at all, given this bird was typically seen standing in the water. This was a relatively colorful and well-marked bird. I nevertheless thought the head and neck were mostly a light to medium gray in color. I did note a narrow band of white on the front part of the face that appeared to encircle the bill and I further thought there was some suggestion of a narrow, whitish eyering, but I did not think the head or neck were obviously marked otherwise. Contrasting relatively sharply with the paler and planer neck, the breast and sides were quite blackish, albeit with an uneven if not mottled pattern with some paler markings internally. The belly and at least the rear flanks were likewise sharply demarcated from the blackish breast and sides, but they were strikingly white and unmarked. I did not study the pattern on the upperparts and wings all that carefully, but what I was able to see appeared to be well-defined mottling of black on a warm, cinnamon-brown background that was as colorful as the same regions on the dowitchers but different in shade and with the black markings clearly coarser. I did not notice an obvious contrast in either the pattern or coloration between the mantle, scapulars, and wing coverts, and I noted no feathers that were obviously paler or plainer, suggesting that few, if any, feathers from basic plumage have appeared. The tertials appeared to be dark brown with notches of cinnamon to buff that created a coarsely barred pattern on the rear part of the closed wing that was somewhat different from the pattern on the back, scapulars, and wing coverts in being somewhat more duller, more brownish, and representing barring as opposed to mottling. I saw the rump and tail only when this bird was in flight, when I noted either broad bands of white on either side of the rump or a U-shaped band of white that extended down the sides of the rump and across the uppertail coverts that contrasted with a darker center to the rump and a mostly dark tail. Further apparent when this bird spread its wings, was that the underwing coverts were strikingly white and seemingly unmarked. This bird had a strikingly bicolored, with the basal half or slightly more being a relatively bright pinkish to pinkish-orange and sharply demarcated from the black tip. The eyes were dark, but the legs and whatever I was able to see of the feet were bright orange in color, and thus a somewhat different shade than the base of the bill.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

320

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

2458 pixels x 1633 pixels

Original file size

5 MB