Here’s a comparison between a molting adult (right) and a 1st fall Lesser yellowlegs. Notice the immaculate patterns on the back of the left bird (juve).
The adult’s alternate feathers are worn and dull in the coverts and scapulars. You can see emerging basic mantle feathers on the adult which are gray and large and give the appearance of a blurry pix. (Note: this is a composite photo).
Forgot to ID all the birds in a previous quiz. Here there are. The Baird’s was kind of unfair The rest are Least, unless I missed something.
14 species of shorebird at Hornsby this morning. I’m surprised I haven’t seen Western or WHite-rumped Sandpipers yet. The fun part today was 20 Hudsonian Godwits flying over the ponds and then 4 landed and stuck around for 15 minutes.
We recently read a very good book called “Orison for a Curlew”(Orison = prayer). It’s about the Slender-billed Curlew of Europe. Some of the narrative took us to places we had birded in Bulgaria. I highly recommend!! https://www.goodreads.com/…/27278141-orison-for-a-curlew Regretfully, on a Bulgaria birding site, I just saw this article on the end of the story….
17 species of shorebird this morning at Hornsby. Ties my personal best at Hornsby and I just missed the BB Plover that was reported. Migrating Franklin’s Gulls and White-faced Ibis also cool.
Saw some rain coming yesterday so headed to Hornsby for another shorebird and migrant fix!! Lots of White-rumped Sand, a flyby of 3 Black-bellied Plovers, Semipalm plovers, beautiful breeding plumage phalaropes, Dowitchers, and Stilt sands and the first time to ever see all 5 peeps on the same day!! Also lots of wet swallows, migrating…
Ok, here’s today’s quiz photo!!! How many can you ID? Taken at Hornsby last night. Hint: there are 6 species.
