Fall is progressing nicely so far. Not only are we past the halfway mark for
this years guiding season, but with the passing of August 16, we’re now less
than 2 months from departure. But before
I get too carried away thinking about all of that, we need to focus on what we
hope will be the most exciting two months of birding on St. Paul this year.
That brings me to the subject. Indeed, we stumbled on the rarest fall
shorebird of the season so far. Keep in
mind that we’ve already had loads of RED-NECKED STINTS, some RUFFS, and even a
Code 4 LITTLE STINT. So what’s the
rarity? Well, you aren’t going to like it…
We were scoping Saucer Pond when we saw this peep running
around. Even from a distance, something
didn’t click about it. We got a little
closer and I managed to snap some crappy digiscoped pictures. It shows a peep with… -drum roll-…. webbing
between the middle and outer toes on its left foot:
Now, before you suggest that it’s mud or something (which is
an actual issue to be cognizant of), you can see the webbing ALSO on its right
foot in this photo:
Ok, so what if it has webbing? Well, that eliminates either Red-necked or
Little stint leaving us with Western or Semipalmated sandpiper. Well, this bird was actually running around
with an actual Western Sandpiper and it was clear beyond a doubt that it wasn’t
one of those…. leaving us with the ID of Semipalmated Sandpiper. I told you you weren’t going to like it!
Take a look though, it really does make sense. The bird was ever-so-slightly smaller than
the WESA, it had a much shorter bill, and it had a super dark cap (something
that really jumped out compared to the RNSTs we’ve been seeing):
Additionally, it doesn’t look particularly long winged (which would favor a stint) and the wing coverts aren’t solid black as a Little Stint would
show; they have dark anchor-shaped coverts instead:
Anyway, so yes, a fall SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER here is rare,
as in less than 10 records all time. So
in fact, we just had a fall peep rarer than any of the 4 stints including my
nemesis of Temminck’s. Oh well, you take
what you can get. And then you try to ID
what you take!
Staying on the theme of shorebirds, yesterday a hike to
Tsmanna didn’t yield much of note other than this entirely crazy-looking
leucistic RUDDY TURNSTONE:
Have you ever seen a partially leucistic or albino shorebird
before? We were thinking about that
question and honestly, I’m not sure I have.
Switching gears, did you know that St. Paul Island is void
of rodents? It’s true, we have no rats, voles, mice, or even lemmings. However, we do
have a small shrew (shrews aren't rodents!).
Either way, sometimes birds fill niches that are open to them. For example, we have a tiny dark brown
species that scurries around the cliffs and rocky areas. They spend the winter here as well instead of
migrating away in the fall and because of all that isolation, they’ve actually
evolved into their own distinct and endemic subspecies. We’re talking, of course, about the PACIFIC
WREN. This year has been kind on the wrens and they've been findable in a multitude of locations, a stark contrast of the situation last year. And yes, they do scurry around a
little bit like rodents. Here are two
patrolling the shadows of the Reef Seal Blind:
When they pop up in nice light though, it IS possible to
tell what they are:
Speaking of Reef though (it’s a peninsula that extends south
off the island), here’s a panoramic view looking south towards its tip:
Flipping around, here’s a view from the same point looking
north towards town:
Signs of fall migration, even for passerines, are starting
to show. Ash and I walked the crab pots
(for the first time in who knows how long) and immediately found an early GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH
skulking about:
Thinking back, this was the first time I had seen this species in crab pots (but I can't say it's a surprise). I would have much rather it had been a Dark-sided or Asian
Brown flycatcher but here I go again, complaining. This is the 2nd GCTH we’ve had on
the island this year, the first one was a one-day-wonder I photographed at
Hutch Hill back on June 15:
Lastly, another very welcome sign of fall was this NORTHERN
WHEATEAR that was along SW Road near the Antone Wall turnoff:
