Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
***Very rare in inland California or southern california as a whole. First county record. Photos. I initially stumbled upon this bird while trying to confirm the ID of the peep that was running around in the tall grass (eventually turned out to be a Western). I was immediately struck by the upright posture, holding the head high above the body, and head-bobbing movement while walking. The bird was only slightly smaller than the nearby Killdeer and altogether dwarfed the Western. The head was round and dove-like, the neck long and slender, the body was slender, and very attenuated towards the rear, with long wings. The legs were quite long. The bill was mid-lengthed, slightly drooped, and black. The crown was likely wet creating a more capped look than most BBSA, but still the slightly contrasting cap was apparently. There was mud on the base of the bird's bill, so it appeared black around the face. The bird had a prominent eyering giving it a "plaintive" or "peaceful" look. The cheek, upper neck, breast and upper belly were all washed smooth brightish buffy. The lower neck was streaked, though also buffy. The back appeared quite gray from a distance, as only some of the feathers had the characteristic buffy scaling. The flanks and undertail coverts were clean white. The legs were yellow. The bird called several times when it would fly short distances across the pond, a low flat call somewhat similar to a pec but softer, less explosive, and slightly more liquid perhaps (?) The sound was audio-recorded. Luckily many of the local birders were able to come over and see this bird after my initial encounter. Unfortunately the only photo I was able to salvage after my phone got destroyed was this meme
Technical information
- Dimensions
- 603 pixels x 383 pixels
- Original file size
- 60.94 KB