45F and Purple - 17 Dec 2021
After last night's brutal trip to Pt. Mouillee to look for a Purple Sandpiper I woke up tired and sore and resolved to no longer chase any rare birds. Ever. Then, the bird was refound at 9 am. And again at 11 am. And again at 1 pm. Ok, so that didn't last long.
Skies were sunny and calm, and temps were in the mid 40's, so I grabbed the bike and headed back to Pt. Mouillee fully expecting to dip again. I rode the Middle Causeway all the way to the Banana and did not see any evidence of a Purple Sandpiper. Luckily, Karen Markey and Linda Ar were scoping a Snowy Owl out on the Cell 4 breakwall, and Karen gave me direction to look for the bird. I headed back to the area, and even pulled up the GPS coordinates to where the Purple Sandpiper was reported. Still no bird. Luckily, Jack Kew showed up and found it instantly. Just 30' from where I was looking. Thank you, Jack!
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| https://identify.whatbird.com/obj/996/overview/Purple_Sandpiper.aspx |
The east-coast rarity paid us no mind and foraged just 10' away in the cattail stubble along the Humphries Unit shoreline at the junction of Vermet and Long Pond Units. It was backlit by the early afternoon Sun so digiscoping gave the best looks.
Dec 17, 2021 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Sunny, mid 40's
1 species
Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima) 1 After last night's brutal trip to Pt. Mouillee to look for a Purple Sandpiper I woke up tired and sore and resolved to no longer chase any rare birds. Ever. Then, the bird was refound at 9 am. And again at 11 am. And again at 1 pm. Found along middle causeway (thanks Jack Kew). Two-toned orange bill, dark purple-gray head, bright orange feet, spotted gray and white chest. Photos.
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
