Re: [SBB] Another Ruff?

[Dean Manley <[[email protected]]>]

Hi Al and all,

After reading Al's post this afternoon,11/05/06, I went back to the EEC to
look for this Ruff on the south side of the entry road.  I had not been
able to find it (Kathy Parker had seen a Ruff south of the entry road
yesterday) yesterday or this morning.  The RUFF was at the east end of the
pond and very close to the road and matched Al's description.  I was
fortunate to see the Ruff in close to a Greater Yellowlegs at two different
times.  The Ruff was in the general size class to the Greater Yellowlegs
but much stockier looking, surely out weighing the Greater Yellowlegs.
Refreshing my memory with a a few shorebird books confirmed that the
Greater Yellowlegs size comparison for the male Ruff is the gold standard
so this Ruff seems to be a male.  It does not have orange legs (I find
almost no leg color but a faint yellow/pinkishness) of the male reported by
Mike Mammoser recently, so I think this may be Ruff number 6 for anyone
keeping track.

I moved on to Spreckles St where I found Dave Weber (who was with Mike M.
when they found the orange legged male Ruff) and told him about the Ruff.
We went back for a look.  Not to secondhand Dave's words to much but he
quickly thought this was a new bird.

Just prior to posting I've seen Tom Grey's Ruff Photos for today and it
looks like the same Ruff I am posting about.

Dean Manley




>   This afternoon, there was a Ruff in the pond along the south side of the
>EEC entrance road in Alviso.  I also saw at least 4 (probably more) Lesser
>Yellowlegs.  (The total Kathy reported is impressive.)  This Ruff was
>much larger than the Lesser it was with.  Some Dowitchers joined them, and
>the Ruff consistently appeared at least as large as the Dowitchers (and
>sometimes larger -- certainly taller).  Its legs were pale yellow (perhaps
>with a pinkish tint), nowhere near as bright as the Lesser's legs; the
>bill was entirely black.
>
>   I went on from there to State and Spreckles, where Frank Vanslager
>pointed out another Ruff in a large Dowitcher flock.  This one was smaller
>than the Dowitchers, and had gray legs -- it looked, in fact, like one
>of the two immature females which have been repeatedly seen near the RR
>track junction.  So I'm wondering if the bird I saw might be a male;
>but from the description apparently not the adult male reported last
>week.
>
>   Frank had seen the Stilt Sandpiper in the same flock, but it had
>disappeared into the mass of sleeping birds, and I didn't manage to find
>it.
>
>								Al Eisner
>
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