It looks like the inland birders hit the coast on the same day with the same idea--we can only take so much manure shorebirding! I didn't know Wally Sumner had been to Scarborough and got there late in the afternoon. The 3 adult HUDSONIAN GODWITS flew into the pannes off Eastern Rd as I approached on the trail. (Sorry Chuck and Lena, it all happened after I saw you leaving.) Seeing those anytime is a thrill. I recently wrote about shorebird migration for Mid Coast Audubon. Hudsonian Godwits perform overwater flights to South America in fall. The story about these and other shorebirds is available here: http://www.midcoastaudubon.org/newsletters/Bulletin_aug_2012.pdf
With the godwits was a juvenile LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. That age class typically arrives on the East coast about mid-September and only very rarely earlier. The Long-billed Dowitcher at Scarborough is typical of the species in juvenal plumage. It is duller than the similarly aged Short-billed Dowitchers present, which are starting to molt in gray scapulars. Also present in the pannes was an adult still in breeding plumage, though much faded. It showed a deep orange wash throughout the underparts, dark reddish barred scapulars, and faded bars on the flanks.
Among the 15 species of shorebirds seen at Eastern Rd:
Stilt Sandpiper - 10 juvs., most molting in gray on the back and scauplars but a few still fresh (photos)
Baird's Sandpiper - 1
White-rumped Sandpiper - 1 (photo)
American Golden-Plover - 1 juv. (photo)
Black-bellied Plover - 2
Pectoral Sandpiper - 8 (most juvs.)
Earlier, a stop at the Pleasant Hill golf range in Scarborough had an immature Forster's Tern and two imm. Common Terns foraging over the driving range.
eBird list:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11552454
Some photos here:
juv. Long-billed Dowitcher with Hudsonian Godwit
http://flic.kr/p/d94JZj
3 Hudsonian Godwits with both Long and Short-billed Dowitchers
http://flic.kr/p/d94A5y
Forster's Tern at Scarborough (Pleasant Hill golf range)
http://flic.kr/p/d9529f
Louis Bevier
Fairfield
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