Three Lifers in a Mud Puddle

Yes, three life birds, all locally rare species, congregating in a puddle in a cornfield: JoAnne Russo of Vermont Green Threads alerted me to it with a message on Facebook  (Thanks, JoAnne)  It took me three days and  three different trips though to get a good set of pictures. Lucky for me the birds stayed around. The third was my lucky day because this time the  American Golden Plover, that I had missed on the first two days, showed up.

He was the star of the show, a juvenile American Golden Plover, still showing the gold speckling on his rump. He is a transient visitor migrating from the northern tundra to his wintering grounds in South America. Most migrate through the Great Plains but a a few show up in the Northeast.

Also present that day were two Black-bellied Plovers which are much more common here

The other star of the show was a Stilt Sandpiper. It too was a life bird for me; I  had just missed it at Sterling Peats during fall migration last year. It was an adult in non-breeding plumage, mostly gray on top. The species breeds in subarctic areas and migrates to the interior of South America. It prefers pools or lagunes to tidal mudflats, and therefore the bird must have felt quite at home in this mud puddle.

From a distance, with their long yellowish legs, they are easily confused with  Lesser Yellowlegs but for their long drooping bill.

The Dunlin was my third lifer. Here in this photo the Dunlin is on the left and Stilt Sandpiper on the right. They are very similar in size, but the Dunlin is much stockier with a thicker bill. 

I had seen White-rumped Sandpipers on the coast on Plum Island before but they are not often seen inland during their long-distance migration from the Canadian Arctic to Patagonia. 

Three White-rumps preening, showing their white rumps

There were several Pectoral Sandpipers in the crowd. The following two photos show the sharp pectoral demarcation that gives the sandpiper its name.

And lastly  there were several Killdeer. They are so ubiquitous that it's easy to overlook them.

We have been having beautiful summer-like weather.The mud puddle is drying up, getting smaller by the day. In the morning it's been quite foggy, but it burns off by 10 AM. On a foggy field Canada Geese are fattening up before migration. Actually they don't migrate very far, flying just a little south of here to the lush golf courses in Connecticut.

Farm stores are busy selling local produce.

Cheers!

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