Re: [MDOsprey] Little Stint
Robert (robert@csa.com)
Thu, 15 Jul 1999 15:51:26 -0400
At 03:06 PM 07/15/1999 -0400, stamps@sea-east.com wrote:
>Gail and I saw the Little Stint today at Cape May, NJ (shhhh, don't tell
>Norm). Two points, one concerning location, the other the bird.
>
>LOCATION: It's at the Higbee Beach dredge spoil impoundment. When you
>get to the end of the road to Higbee Beach there are three dirt trails
>for you to choose from. The correct one is the one to the right. Follow
>that until you just come out of the woods. The walk is only a few
>hundred yards. The impoundment is on the right. The dike surrounding the
>impoundment is about 20 feet tall and the sides are covered with
>fragmites. At the corner of the dyke where you first come to it, there
>is a narrow beaten trail up the side. Take that. At the top you will see
>two spurs that go into the center of the dyke. The bird was on the other
>side of the closest spur. Where you view the bird from depends upon the
>sun angle. In the morning the sun is into your eyes if you try to view
>from the first spur. If you go in the morning, go around to your right
>when you get to top of the dyke. You should be able to see the bird
>adequately from somewhere along the right side.
>
>THE BIRD: Unless you are very familiar with the bird, or you are very
>close to it when you first see it, you will likely overlook it. It isn't
>very brightly colored. The upper breast is a mauve leaning to buff, or
>buff leaning to mauve, take your pick. The most obvious thing about the
>upper part of the breast to the base of the bill is that the throat is
>white, so that the mauve color looks somewhat like a breast band. The
>head, neck, back and wings of the bird are lighter colored than the many
>Least Sandpipers that are around. But you need a proper lighting angle
>to see this. The color is nowhere near as bright as the various field
>guides and other books show. There are two white strips down the bird's
>back - almost like a snipe, but not as prominent. The legs are
>definitely black, and that is the best way to eliminate the Leasts from
>further consideration. The bird is the size of a Least, so most of the
>time you won't confuse it with the many Semipalmated or Western
>Sandpipers.
>
>However, the best way to find the bird may be to come late enough in
>the morning that the bird has already been found by the many other
>birders that will likely be there.
>
>Charlie & Gail Vaughn
>1306 Frederick Avenue
>Salisbury, MD 21801
>
>stamps@sea-east.com
>