ML268824961
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
Great spot last night by Charles Hoots. Bird continuing this morning in large dark mud puddle across the street (Coburn Road) from Fruitville Library. There is parking right next to the puddle. Margi Haas was the only birder on sight when I arrived and had already spotted the AMGP hanging around SE section of puddle with Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover. Even with overcast skies, I had very nice looks through my scope and noted subtly golden and uniformly small spots on its back and wings.. which point to it being a juvie. It was pale beigey-gray overall with gray legs. Prominent white supercilium, dark cap, large eye in center of round head, small plover shaped bill. Overall clearly smaller and trimmer than any Black-bellied Plover, though there were none on site to compare it with today. AMGP appeared very similar in size to the Killdeer it was fraternizing with. Sometimes hard to spot as it blended in very nicely to the piles of mud and grasses. Poor light, and distance, made it somewhat difficult to photograph, though I see Margi got some great shots which show primary/tertials/tail. Bird was fairly cooperative, unfazed by the scope or other park patrons loading paddle boards, or jogging by, just 30 feet away, so we edged closer for better photos. Suddenly a very large Peregrine Falcon sent the entire flock up, the AMGP being the last to give up its spot in the puddle. AMGP flew SE with several Killdeer, generally toward Mt. Celery. No black in axillaries seen in flight, no wing stripe noted, but hard to make out many details as bird flew SE backlit by gray-white sky. Most of the flock returned to mud puddle, along with some new ones, but the AMGP did not return before we left.
Technical information
- Model
- COOLPIX P900
- ISO
- 400
- Focal length
- 214 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/6.3
- Shutter speed
- 1/320 sec
- Dimensions
- 4608 pixels x 3456 pixels
- Original file size
- 5.61 MB