Sharp-tailed Lifer

by - September 23, 2012 - Bird Sightings, Birding, Chase, Rarities - Tagged: , , , , , - 3 comments
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Panorama of my view of the flats

 

This morning I read of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper that was found at Irondequoit Bay near Rochester NY. After a well-timed text from Tom Johnson who told me it was probably legit, I hit the road in hopes of seeing a lifer. It’s been a long time since I was on a true chase, usually too far away from any bird I wanted to see to  consider chasing it. So off I headed to Irondequoit Bay….

Now, being that I had never been to this spot, I didn’t bring anything special. This was a mistake as the best vantage to view the mud flats was out on another muddy flat. Luckily I was able to find a spot to perch at the edge of the muck on some fallen logs and phragmites and keep my feet clean. It didn’t take long to find the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper foraging with the Pectoral Sandpipers since it was in juvenile plumage and its red cap and reddish-orange breast stuck out compared to the Pecs.

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Screen grab from video taken with iPhone 4S through Zeiss Diascope 85 T*FL

I managed to get some really great looks as it strolled back and forth on the mud flat. At one point it flushed with all the other shorebirds and I soon refound it much closer which allowed me to get some video. It was too far to get any decent iPhone-scoped shots but I have found that video can often come through in tough conditions. The video isn’t great but you can definitely see a difference in coloration between it and the surrounding Pecs. When the sun was shining at its brightest, the red cap and orange-red chest were very easy to pick out.

 

For anyone going for this bird tomorrow, I highly recommend some boots so you can walk out further than I did for a better look. I was lucky that the bird was always in view from the spot I managed to look from.

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Drew Weber

I am a young ornithologist originally from PA but now living in central New York. I am pursuing a master's degree at Penn State University studying grassland birds and their relationships with different agricultural practices. When I am not working feverishly on my thesis, I enjoy adding new birds to my county, state and life lists, digiscoping and getting outdoors. I am active in the Pennsylvania birding community as chairman of the bird records committee, as well as a reviewer for sightings submitted to eBird. Some topics that really interest me are migration, bird distributions and vagrancy. Contact me if you have any questions about birds and birding in PA.

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