ML97441621

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Kellen Apuna
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29 Apr 2018 12:35 PM
eBird Checklist S45090175

Hickam AFB Wetland Trails
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
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Age

Unknown

Sex

Unknown

Behaviors

Breeding

Tags

Comments

Observation details

Apparent ninth record for the state. The bird was first seen with a few turnstones in some exposed mangrove roots out on the mud/reef flats. The yellow leg color caught my eye, as asides from the Wandering Tattler, not many other regularly occurring migratory shorebirds have yellow legs (in Hawaii). It was mostly obscured by the roots, but I was still able to get views of it. After a while of preening and bathing, the flock flew from the roots, and onto the wetland area (I have never sprinted so hard to keep up with them in my life) for a few minutes. The whole flock eventually flew east, towards the airport. I did not see them for the rest of the day. My thoughts initially went to a Least Sandpiper, but the size of the bird was not right, and the plumage showed no signs of streaking. Given the plain plumage, I submitted this as a Ruff, but this was corrected to a BBSA after some excellent ID discussion online. Smaller-sized shorebird (slightly smaller than a turnstone). My photos are not good, but in the magnified image, the breast of the bird does not appear to be streaked, nor does it appear to have any markings. Overall it is a tan/buffy color, with scaly feather patterning on the back, alongside a clean unmarked belly. As Sharif Uddin pointed out to me, there appears to be no eyeline/supercilium and the face seems plain and unmarked. The head features a small bill and a big "buggy" eye. -Ruff eliminated by size (would roughly be larger than RUTU). -Least Sandpiper eliminated by size (would be much smaller than the turnstones, with streaking) -PESA eliminated based off of bill proportions and lack of distinct streaking on belly A special thanks to Eric Vanderwerf, Sharif Uddin, Joshua Rudolph, Kurt Pohlman, and Lance Tanino for ID help! :)

Technical Information

Model

SM-G550T

f-stop

f/2.2

Focal length

3.3 mm

Shutter speed

1/1652 sec

ISO

50

Flash

Flash did not fire

Original file size

1,539KB

Dimensions

2576 x 1932