ML590007291

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

I encountered five Charadrius plovers in the same area. One was on the end of "stint peninsula" and 4 were across the water from there on the beach on "stint island" where we'd seen the Red-necked Stint the previous week. I was surprised to see a "mini-flock" of Semipalmated Plovers on June 9! Of the four across from me on the beach, one had a more noticeable white supercilium and it was a little separated from the other three, so I tried to take photos of it. But it was windy (8+ mph from the SW), which made me wobbly as I took photos, and although I watched it for 15+ minutes, it wasn't very cooperative and sat down with its back to me for at least 10 of those minutes. It rarely faced me head-on so I didn't get a photo of its breast band. Of course it was too far away, and it stayed in the grass, so I couldn't discern the palmation of its feet. The 4 plovers on the beach stayed silent, but the one with me on the peninsula did make a Semipalmated call when it flew. I assumed this bird was a variable Semipalmated Plover and I didn't examine my photos for a couple days. I could then see more details on the photos than I did in person. After getting input from a couple people, I decided to list this bird as a Common Ringed/Semipalmated Plover. I realize that, without a vocalization or additional photos, it probably can't be confirmed as a Common Ringed Plover. Next time!

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX70 HS

Lens

3.8-247mm

ISO

125

Focal length

247 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/1000 sec

Dimensions

4356 pixels x 2265 pixels

Original file size

1.75 MB