ML434949481
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
Continuing individual; took a while to spot through the vegetation, but eventually it wandered onto the pond's mudflats. I didn't see it stand side-by-side with another bird for any thorough size comparison, but it still stood out as a small shorebird. If I had to guess, it looked to be about half the size of the nearby Kōlea. Structurally, it was what I consider to be the default sandpiper shape; no long neck or long legs, it was just kind of small and round overall. Despite the backlighting, I could still make out a lot of details to the plumage: the upperparts were uniformly brown with intricate dark barring on the coverts, tertials, primaries, and tail; the white belly and flanks were cleanly demarcated from the upperparts all around; the head was basically brown with a prominent white supercilium and dark eyeline; and perhaps most importantly, the white belly was patterned with black spots, which seemed to decrease in density from the breast to the flanks––these spots rule out Common Sandpiper. Other interesting details included the primary projection, which was very short and made the tail kind of stick out, and the bill, which was very thin and less than the length of it's head. In moving, it kind of struts like a tattler but bobs up-and-down often. It's a lot of fun to watch.
Technical information
- Model
- COOLPIX P1000
- ISO
- 400
- Focal length
- 539 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/8.0
- Shutter speed
- 1/250 sec
- Dimensions
- 3264 pixels x 2448 pixels
- Original file size
- 1.98 MB