Spent 2 hours this morning at Delta Park, mainly trying to make sure I got
a positive ID on three intriguing birds that just didn't look quite right
for short-billed dowitchers. From a distance I thought that one of them
looked good for a stilt sandpiper, but when I finally got closer (about
100' away, I could see that all three were STILT SANDPIPERS. They fed with
a similar motion to dowitchers, but appeared longer legged and shorter
billed, with a slight curve to the bill. When viewed in flight, base of
tail feathers was distinctly white, and they lacked the white wedge going
up the back.. If I hadn't brought my shorebird guide along, I'd have don't
think I'd have make an ID, but I had ample opportunity to study them at
close range.

Also present were about a dozen SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, 35 LEAST SANDPIPERS,
1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, 4 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, over
100 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, 6 COMMON TERNS, about 45 CASPIAN TERNS and a
WILSON'S SNIPE. All the shorebirds were hanging out on one of the sandbars
close to shore.

David Rankin