ML614766663

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

CRPL at rear left with SEPLs

Observation details

Tucker's notes: Adam Searcy and I were birding elsewhere when we got word from Brian Sullivan that a juvenile CRPL had been found here. As we drove over in a state of panic, Adam played a number of different CRPL vocalizations so we could be prepared if and when we heard it, as neither of us had previous experience with that species. Upon arriving, we learned that there were a large number of SEPL present and that the CRPL was not currently being seen. After looking at many SEPL to no avail, we wandered back to near where Brian and Karen had originally heard and seen the CRPL and decided to spend some time there even though there were no SEPL present. After some time a fairly large flock of SEPL flew over, with many birds calling. Adam and I agreed that none of the birds vocalizing were a candidate for CRPL. Within a few seconds a trailing plover arrived along the same flight line and began calling - the call was unlike anything I'd heard before in the field, and was a perfect match for one of the vocalizations we listed to in the car an hour or so previously. Adam and I both exclaimed "THATS IT COMMON RINGED PLOVER!!!" or something along those lines as the bird called loudly, clearly multiple times. The call was a low, quavering call, a great match for the first flight call in version 2 of the Sibley App. I suppose phonetically it could be described as "toolip" but I want to emphasize that the wavering quality was very prominent, and it was not as prominently two syllabled as the common "tooe" vocalization associated with this species. The syllables kind of slurred/blended together. Again, far different than anything I've heard from SEPL before. Although we were 100% confident of the bird's ID, I got a terrible look - the bird went over quickly and really no plumage details stood out. We tracked the bird in flight as it joined the rear of the SEPL flock that had just passed over. I was surprised it was not difficult to tell it from the SEPLs, as it appeared somewhat larger and longer winged. Soon the birds all landed together in a distant pond where some other birders were assembled. I alerted them that the plover had landed somewhere right in front of them, and they did indeed find and photograph it eventually. However, when Adam and I arrived, we could not locate it before a PEFA then a MERL appeared in quick succession and flushed almost all the plovers that had been there. After that we set off to refind it again, but never did....however, I was able to enjoy some extended viewing of this bird the following day (https://ebird.org/checklist/S153074312). After poorly seeing but hearing the juvenile as it flew over us, but then missing it on the ground, Adam and I set off to relocate it in another pond. We came across a large roosting flock of SEPL in a dry impoundment and set about scanning. After a minute, we both separately said we had found an interesting bird, which turned out to be same one. This plover had an enormous, eyecatching breast band, which made the bird stand out even from some distance. Further scrutiny revealed a face pattern that appeared to be consistent with CRPL, especially the dark line of feathering at the gape (not the white “notch” of SEPL) that is one of the best field marks for CRPL. Adam and I both thought we were on to something for a bit, thinking this could be the bird we were looking for (the known juvenile CRPL) until we had the collective “DUH” moment where we realized the bird we were both looking at was an adult. We knew already the CRPL we were searching for was definitively a juvenile. As CRPL has ***mega*** status and is infamously difficult to properly identify to boot, there was seemingly no possible way we were looking at yet another CRPL at the same place on the same day. However, we just couldn’t let the bird go. Despite the impossibility of Two Bird Theory, it looked too good to just shrug and walk away from…there seemed to be nothing “wrong” with it for CRPL. We shared these thoughts with a number of other birders present, many of which thought it was eyecatching as well, but eventually all departed and it was just me and Adam staring at it, waiting for something to happen. We crept a bit closer and that is when the bird’s size became apparent…the closer we got, the move obvious it was that the bird was much larger than the SEPLs sitting close to it for direct comparison. At this point the torture just got worse, as we were feeling it was more and more likely this could be another CRPL, but it refused to call or do much of anything. Minutes of watching this bird turned into hours and we finally decided to leave, but go look at the bird from the opposite side of the pond on our way out, in a last hope something might be revealed from a different angle. This led to another “DUH” moment because we unexpectedly found ourselves much, much closer to the bird than we had been, and it was now suddenly clear that this bird was indeed a second CRPL. At close range, the size difference between the CRPL and the SEPL was incredibly obvious (this was true with the juv CRPL as well, though I could not note that myself until the following day), so obvious that I’m surprised this is not emphasized more in traditional field guides, even with a small amount of overlap between the largest SEPL and smallest CRPL. The breast band was indeed extremely wide, wider than on any SEPL I can recall seeing and taking into account I’ve seen more than a few SEPL with very large breast bands. The back was a noticeably different shade of brown than the surrounding SEPLs; I am uncertain how much of that was a product of fading/wear and I think all the nearby SEPLs were juveniles, but in the field I did not chalk up the difference entirely to wear alone. The ear patch was very large and most of the time (depending on posture), extended down low onto the side of the neck, almost reaching the black collar/breast band. The white supercilium was large and conspicuous but not something I perceived as being drastically different from some SEPL. The forecrown, where the bird’s brown cap met the white band just above the bill, had a lot of black smudging. The face pattern in general appeared to be very dark. The orbital area appeared dark/concolorous with surrounding facial feathers. The bill appeared black and slightly proportionally larger than SEPL. I did not look closely at leg color in the field but in my photos they are a dull pinkish. At one point, while we were close, the bird stretched a leg and splayed its toes and a I took a series of photos – no webbing can be seen. All of these field marks are readily visible in the photos I provided. Eventually the bird began calling intermittently, which I could both hear and also see the bird’s bill opening and closing through the scope. Adam could hear it as well. This was the classic rising CRPL “tooee” or “pooeep” call. Doubting how well audio of the call could be captured even if frantically fumbling with a phone led to beginning a recording in time (it was very breezy and the call was not exactly piercing), I immediately asked Adam (while it was still calling) to compare what we were hearing directly with available recordings. It was a perfect match for the second flight call recording in the Sibley 2.0 app. A few moments after that, the bird flew off and we left, incredulous over our good CRPL fortunes.

Technical information

Dimensions

1573 pixels x 1216 pixels

Original file size

1.76 MB