We encountered this Baird's Sandpiper and chicks, while admiring the Siberian Primrose at the mouth of the Nome River, in Nome, Alaska. They nest alone the northern costs of Alaska and western Canada. 6/30/2007.
I am reasonably confident of the identification on this one. But, I have more firsts yet to identify from the trip. It will be surprising if Resin doesn't have to correct at least one of them, before I finish.
Baird's Sandpiper with two downy chicks.
One chick is crawling under mothers wing, the second chick is right behind.
I'm sorting the pictures and discovering shots of Baird's Sandpiper at several different locations. This one was feeding along the viewing boardwalk, at the rusting remains of the "Train-To-Nowhere". Originally, I though I had pictures of more species.
This message was edited Jul 3, 2007 11:16 PM
This Baird's Sandpiper was feeding along the beach, of Norton Sound. There are still gold planners working alone this stretch of beach.
Provisional thoughts turn to Semi-p., but I'm still investigating!
Resin
Love seeing peep babies. Don't think I've seen them before. Thanks, Grasmussen!
Resin, the wing tips of Baird's extend beyond tip of tail, according to my references. I did consider Semi-p. from the beginning. After reexamining the photos, including many not posted, I still believe the first three pictures are Baird's. But, now think the fourth picture could be a Semi-p. I can't really see the tail on any of the shots of the bird on the beach.
boojum, here is another shot of a baby peep. It was one of three observed in the same area as the bird in the 4th. picture, but not with the adult. The were old enough to be feeding on their own.
Such a cutie. You can see the skiddish personality already!
I'm still for Semi-p, for all of them; the primaries on Baird's extend a looooong way past the tail and tertials, much more obvious than here. Also, one of my refs points out that, as Calidris waders go, Baird's is fairly short-legged; yours has fairly long legs.
I showed the pics to another wader enthusiast here, without revealing either your or my thoughts; his response was also Semi-p.
If you have any more pics showing the tail end better, please post them!
Resin
Thanks Resin, I'll defer to your expertise.
Now for the next one puzzling me. The Plovers in the next two pictures, were a matted pair, upset I was near either a nest or chicks. This one appears to be an American Golden-Plover. The white stops at the shoulder.
Yep, that's American Golden Plover. Also too dark on the back for PGP.
Resin
However, the mate in this shot, fits the description of a Pacific Golden-Plover. The white stripe extends to flanks, white underneath tail. Is this one a female American?
Beautiful pics Gary!
Yep, female American. On Pacific Golden Plover, there is a nearly continuous white band along the flanks between the black belly and the wings.
Male has underparts usually solidly black, including under-tail coverts, while female shows more white feathers on the underparts. Moulting birds especially may closely resemble Pacific Golden Plover — Hayman, Marchant & Prater, Shorebirds
Thanks again Resin. I'm finally starting to learn a little about shore birds. A side note: birding is the local industry in the Nome area. It is so close to Siberia there are a lot of Asian birds wandering off course, as well as most of the arctic species.
Gary.
Yep, looked it up in my atlas. Attu in the Aleutians has the same reputation, but I seem to remember hearing they (USFWS) don't allow trips there any more to protect the island.
Must be nice birding with close to 24hour daylight!
Resin
Forty years ago I was close enough to see Attu, on clear days, for a month, next island to the east. It was fall, and I was working, but don't recall seeing anything unusual, just lots of Cormorant. On Adak Island, at that time, there were lots of Eiders, more than one species, but don't remember which ones. Adak is half way out on the chain, and the farthest out open to the public. That is if you are wealthy enough to afford the plane ticket.
Can you confirm my ID of a Ruddy Turnstone for this one?
I was on a wildflower identification field trip, led by the two leading authorities for Alaska. The bird photos are of birds we encountered while studying flowers. There were dozens of subjects that I couldn't stop to photograph, because it would have been disruptive to the group.
Very nice!
Yep, Ruddy Turnstone it is.
I know all too much about the difficulties of stopping for birding on trips where the other people aren't birders!! (why are dedicated birding trips always so ridiculously much more expensive than country hiking holidays???)
Resin
