Trio

  

A quick shot, but it's always useful when you can compare several species in one photo.

From left to right: Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus).

Photographed in Bodega Bay on 13 May 2023.

Side by side

  

A quick shot of a Red Knot (Calidris canutus) on the left and a Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) on the right feeding along the Bodega Harbor shoreline at the end of the day (20 April 2021).

Stilt success

I had heard that Lisa had found a Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) near the upper reaches of the Estero Americano, so I swung by there today (16 July 2020) on my way home.

Luckily, Gene spotted the Stilt Sandpiper not long after I arrived.  It was far away, but the views were still decent through a spotting scope.  My camera lens wasn't quite strong enough for a good photo, but here's one for the record, since it's the first Stilt Sandpiper I've seen in Sonoma County.  (Most Stilt Sandpipers migrate through the interior regions of the North America, so they're rare on the West Coast.)

 

There were a lot of nice shorebirds in this marsh today, so here are a few more examples:

 

Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) — the juveniles have pale edges on their back feathers, making them look "scaly" in comparison to the adults.  [Three adults in the foreground and three juveniles in the background.]

 

Another distant view, but note the Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor), the paler bird behind the feeding dowitchers.

 

Young Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) in pursuit of a dowitcher (Limnodromus sp.).  [After a long chase, the falcon won.]

Many thanks to all of the local birders who posted information about the Stilt Sandpiper.  It's much appreciated!
 

Calling, hunting, and begging

A few pictures from 17 October 2015:

 

I was watching shorebirds on the inside of Doran Beach, enjoying the calls of Long-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus scolopaceus) — included in the photo above — when this happened:

 

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) hunting shorebirds over Bodega Harbor

 

Later we watched this juvenile Elegant Tern (Thalasseus elegans) begging from an adult on Salmon Creek Beach (Check out the 'do!)

P.S.  We also have an exciting invertebrate find to share with you, so stay tuned!

Wading in the shallows

Thanks to a tip from the North Bay Birds e-mail group, I took a short walk near the mouth of Salmon Creek this afternoon to look for some Red-necked Phalaropes that were reported there yesterday.  I found a few phalaropes (more about them later), but I also came across another species that I hadn't seen in a while:

 

This is a Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus).  Although the name would make you think the length of the bill is the most important feature, there's quite a bit of overlap between Long-billed and Short-billed dowitchers.  One of the best ways to separate the two species is by their calls.  This one did vocalize, confirming the i.d., but I didn't record it, so we'll talk about another good character that you can see in these pictures.

In this case it's helpful to look at two particular groups of feathers. Juvenile Long-billed Dowitchers have very plainly marked tertials and greater wing coverts — they're mostly gray with pale edges.  In juvenile Short-billed Dowitchers, these same feathers would be highly patterned with strong rusty internal bars or stripes.  To help see the tertials and greater wing coverts, I've labeled them below:

 

This bird was wading in the shallows and feeding along the shoreline of Salmon Creek, probing deeply with its bill.

 

 

I like the lighting in the next image.  (That's a Least Sandpiper on the left.)

 

Although Long-billed Dowitchers are less common than Short-billed Dowitchers in this area, this is a good time of year to find them, so keep an eye out.

Brace yourself...

...and do it with friends!

 

Black-bellied Plovers (Pluvialis squatarola) and Short-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus) brace themselves against 20 knot winds and blowing sand at Doran Beach on 13 September 2013.  [The plovers are in the center and at the far left; the dowitchers are in the foreground.]

Black-bellied Plovers are gray or silver in non-breeding plumage (see below).  The individual in the center of the picture above is in transition.

 

From Mendocino to muskegs

We woke up at 3:45 a.m. so that we could arrive on the Mendocino coast for early morning field work.  But it was worth it!  The wind and waves were calm enough to get the work done, and then we had a little extra time afterwards to enjoy the morning before heading back to Bodega Bay.

I was pleasantly surprised to come upon a small group of Short-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus griseus) feeding along the rocky shore.  (I see them more often on tidal flats.)  They spent a lot of time probing for food among the coralline algae (pink in all of the images below).

 

 

 

 

Dowitchers are on their way north to breed in the muskegs of Canada.  Wish them luck!

 

P.S.  For different pictures (from Bodega Harbor), and a little more information about dowitchers, see the post from last July.