ML598797611

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Present when I arrived at 5:30 PM - first seen sitting on the sand on the north side of the playa close to the water's edge. When it was sitting it blended in with the sand so well that I passed it over 3 times before I noticed it (even though it was in the open) – it just looked like a lump in the sand. After a while it stood up and walked along that same area. It was the only shorebird in that part of the playa. Photos taken. It was still there when I left at 6. But when I returned at 7:15 I could not refind it. My 2nd try for this bird - also tried the previous year in Aug 2014 From my blog - When I arrived at the playa I saw another car up ahead and a birder already looking out over the basin. I drove up to him and asked if he had seen the Plover. He said he had it about 20 minutes earlier at the water’s edge right in front of us. He then went back to his car to get his camera, but had not re-found it. The birder told me a Caracara had flown in and all the birds scattered. My heart sank. That was my worst-case scenario – if I had not taken the 30-minute side trip I would likely have seen the Plover the moment I had driven up. And now it was gone. Why hadn’t I followed my own rule to go after the key target before trying for any other birds? I set up my scope and started my search, first scanning the shoreline where the other birder had last seen the Plover – but it was not there. In fact there were no shorebirds at all. I expanded my search area a bit and found 2 Caracaras at the water’s edge – 1 was feeding on something – hopefully not a Plover. Now my mind jumped to Falcated Duck in CA and my 5 unsuccessful searches for that bird. Was Collared Plover going to be a similar nemesis bird? I scanned the shore again with my binoculars and noticed a small “bump” close to the water’s edge. Although I had scanned this area several times earlier without this feature getting my attention, this time something caught my eye. I put my scope on it and realized that the “bump” was actually a shorebird sitting on the sand, with its back almost identical in color to the surrounding sand. I zoomed in and easily identified it as a Plover, but with Snowy’s and Wilson’s also at the playa, I needed to determine what species of Plover it was. I started checking for all the key field marks – white forehead with a black stripe just above it at the top of the head, black patch in front of the eye and not behind, and then a complete black band across the chest. It was the Collared Plover! Over the next 30 minutes we watched it as it eventually stood up and walked along the shore line giving very good views, including showing those pink legs. I got these passable phonescoped pictures of the bird despite a fair distance, the scope shaking in the wind, and lots of heat shimmer Lifebird - ABA Continental #746, Lower 48 #724, US #748

Technical information

Model

iPhone 6

ISO

32

Focal length

4.2 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/2.2

Shutter speed

1/471 sec

Dimensions

820 pixels x 680 pixels

Original file size

215.92 KB