[SBB] Ruff, Stilt Sandpiper (New Chicago)

[Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]>]

Folks:

I stopped at State and Spreckles about 3:30 pm to look for the recent rare 
shorebirds.  A couple of birders were looking at two LESSER YELLOWLEGS, but 
had not seen the Stilt Sandpiper.  They reported that a previous party had 
seen the bird leave the marsh and fly northwest.  I got out my scope and 
was working the various birds nodding off here and there and found the 
juvenile STILT SANDPIPER wandering along the islands about 3:45 pm.  It 
soon settled down and mixed bouts of sleep with preening.  Most of the time 
it was next to two Greater Yellowlegs and the leg color seemed nearly 
identical in the afternoon light, but perhaps with a bit more orange.  I 
continued to look through shorebirds and found a sleeping bird that didn't 
fit the usual types.  It was insistent on catching its Zs, causing me some 
frustration.  Sleeping amongst some Greater Yellowlegs, it was just 
slightly smaller than the occasional dowitcher that wandered by.  What was 
most noticeable about it were the brown tones to the scapulars and coverts 
and the mixture of dark brown and light brown feathers, plus the 
pink-orange legs.  In this respect the sleeping bird looked very much like 
an adult female RUFF molting into basic plumage.  Eventually it poked its 
head out and the relatively short bill with the dip at the end confirmed 
that it was a female Ruff.  Sounds like New Chicago is our equivalent to 
the Patagonia Rest Stop effect.

Bill Bousman
Santa Clara County records compiler 

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