On Friday evening a post came across that there was a very late Tricolored Heron at Marsh Meadows in Jamestown – a bird I need for my RI list. But since I was busy all day Saturday I made little more than a mental note of it. But then came a post on Saturday morning that a Wood Sandpiper was found at the same spot. The post came out within minutes of the first sighting, and I checked my e-mail within minutes of the posting, so I couldn’t have received the information in a more timely manner. Problem was I couldn’t break free that day, and Sunday morning was going to be just as busy. Would it stick around till Sunday afternoon? Although there were times on Saturday when the bird would disappear, it was seen near the end of the day. And with an early Sunday morning siting I was cautiously optimistic that I would be able to see the bird that afternoon. And maybe even the heron!
When I arrived there were at least 75 birders milling around, but no one had seen the sandpiper since the early morning sighting. I only had a couple hours to wait for the bird, so my optimism began to wane. While waiting for the sandpiper to hopefully reappear, I scanned across the marsh to look for the Tricolored Heron with no luck (it was last seen in the early morning too). While scanning I noticed two birders way out on the other side of the marsh to the east seemingly concentrating on something practically at their feet. Maybe they just had a cooperative Saltmarsh Sparrow or something. But after a couple minutes they were still there and occasionally seemed to wave back toward the road. Then came word that they did indeed have the sandpiper. So I joined the rest of the birders to make a 5-minute trek out along the edge of the marsh to the east - and there was the Wood Sandpiper in a salt panne not more than 30 ft away. It appeared to be oblivious to the 75 birders all staring at it just a few feet away. Great views of a tremendous bird!
I eventually made my way back to the road and did a couple more scans for the Tricolored. Found lots of Great Egrets and a few Great Blues but no Tricolored. If I could only get one new RI statebird that day I’m glad it was the Wood Sandpiper.
That was my third sighting of Wood Sandpiper in the US – one on the Pribilofs, one in DE a few years ago, and now a first record for RI.
No comments:
Post a Comment