ML608414903
Tringa sp. Tringa sp.
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
For the best images, see Louis Bevier's cropped and stabilized video. It's the last video uploaded here. Also you can see it at Louis's dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/nof693bvajtunrcl1dahg/MASA_BatonRouge-LA_20230902-Remsen-1080.mp4?rlkey=rux4z3r0q2rknt7mewzzi0rm9&dl=0 ========================================================== Wampold. A very pale, gray+white shorebird caught my attention, unfortunately after sunset, which when first seen was facing away and I thought it was going to be a basic adult WIPH; then it turned, and I could see that the shape was different, more true Tringa, but still small. It disappeared but had relocated to S. Lakeshore shoreline, where I started shooting video and got a few stills. I started thinking uncomfortably about Marsh Sandpiper, with which I have zero experience, just because it was so pale and nothing else fit. It looked too short-legged, however, but at the very end (1:54 on the video) got onto drier mud, and at that point it showed how long-legged it really was. That's when I got seriously interested. But it soon flushed, into bad light. All I could see was that it appeared very gangly and that the tail was white. I could not ascertain whether white went up the back. I zipped over to Lod Cook to see if ended up there, but by that time it was too dark to make out much of anything, and I could not see it. Features that could be seen in field and verified in photos = very pale head are, evidently all-white breast, yellowish legs (eventually revealed to be long), and thin black bill. Clearly smaller than nearby LEYE -- shape more like SOSA but seemed spindlier. On 4 Sep., I sent the following email to some friends: "To my birding pals who also might know Marsh Sandpiper: This has been eating at me nonstop for more than 24 hours. I’m obsessing over this and feel the need to write it all down as part of my therapy. "Yesterday was the most depressing day in my birding career, at least that I can remember. "The previous evening I found what I was pretty sure was a Marsh Sandpiper at dusk on the new shorebird flats at University Lake: https://ebird.org/checklist/S148828624 "When I first spotted it, I thought Wilson’s Phalarope in Basic — that was the only thing that came to mind given how pale it looked in contrast to all other shorebirds. Then, it turned enough to see that the body structure was about as far off from dumpy WIPH as one can get. I was mystified but in sort of a ha-ha-ha way thought about Marsh Sandpiper, which I’ve never seen. It was wading up to its belly most of the time, so the long legs were inaccessible. Anyway, I immediately forgot about actually looking at it an grabbed my super zoom and grabbed a couple of stills. It moved a little ways further away, but I failed to actually see it in flight. I relocated it, with 3 LEYE in the vicinity and could immediately see that it was a notch smaller and much paler. Thin black bill was also quite evident, and I started thinking Marsh more seriously. Video rolling. What you see in the video on the eBird list is piss-poor. (However, if you look closely, you can see at least 2 IBWO!). But you can see how pale and thin-billed it is, how “Tringa” it is in build and foraging behavior. But it’s not until the final 20 secs that it emerges from the muck so that you can actually see its legs … and that’s when my heart started racing. Very long-legged. Leg color looks anywhere from yellowish to pale grayish green depending on angle. Internally, I was sold that it was a Marsh Sandpiper, which is pretty brazen given that I know that bird only from images and field guides … but I was at a total loss for any other explanation. At this point the light is starting to fade. It, the larger LEYE and many of the other shorebirds got up and flew off. For a second I got on the bird and could see white tail and rump but it was so badly backlit that I couldn’t get an honest read on back. The bird did look gangly in flight. "I hate forensic bird ID. What I am confident of in the images is that the bird is basically gray above with a few blackish markings evident in a couple of the closer stills (the latter consistent with adult going into Basic), and strongly contrasting blackish primaries. Very white-headed and white-browed with gray crown. Underparts mostly white but with what looks like a grayish wash on upper breast or lower neck. Thin black bill. And then those “stilt” legs when it emerges; dull yellowish to greenish gray depending on angle. "Given how incredibly unlikely Marsh is [and to minimize likelihood of wild goose chase], I only told three people about it and sent them the link to the images: Dan Lane and Esme Rosen (both of whom I knew were in town, lived near the Lake) and Paul Conover, just because Paul is such a skeptic and has amazing skills (like Dan and Esme). I told them I was going to be out there at dawn. All three were intrigued enough by the images to show up [although I had told Paul he should stay home until he got a call from me one way or another]. Three hours of independent searching yielded nothing. Half the yellowlegs and a few other things had left overnight as well. Very very depressing, and I have been in a total funk ever since. "I looked at 100+ Marsh Sandpiper photos in Macaulay, sorted by “Aug-Sep” and “Best Quality." Some are darn good matches, in my opinion. Wishful thinking? It’s difficult to be completely objective. In a few, the legs look longer than in my bird, but in others, dead-on. If only I had gotten there about 15 minutes earlier, I’m sure my Coolpix would have been able to do better. "Besides sulking, what to do? If I push this based on the lousy images, derision will ensue. I wonder if there is someone who birds in the Old World and is so familiar with the species who would be willing to state one-way-or-another that it definitely is or cannot possibly be a Marsh. 'You idiot, that can’t be a Marsh Sand' would actually be better than continuing in my current state of “pretty sure” based on zero experience with the bird."
Technical information
- Camera
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 33.8 MB