Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Trying somewhere new..

One of the reat things about living on a Caribbean island is that everywhere is still pretty wild, there are no urban deserts of any size so anywhere you go you may spot something interesting. The other day I noticed a ditch that seemed popular with some small waders so I popped back with my scope to see what was around. The answer was a surprising amount of things. Lots of little peeps (which I've been seeing everywhere since Hurricane Dean (although since this is my first september here this may be usual and may simply be coincidence)) but also some long-legged waders. This rather nice bird was one of a number of short-billed dowitchers probing the mud.

dowitcher

This was, from my perspective, the most interesting of the peeps. Its long bill allowed it to explore with the dowitchers and leave its cousins behind. This was eventually determined to be national tick #75: Western Sandpiper:

peep2

A number of people have commented on the length of the legs and scale of the beak but a skinny western sand seemed to be the ultimate consensus. I'd welcome any additional thoughts on this bird any one has though.

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