not a Stilt but a Stilt Sandpiper

"...I did note shorebirds...(h)ighlighted by..STILT SANDPIPER....feeding in a mixed flock consisting of Short-billed Dowitchers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Peeps. The latter hugging the Phragmites as they sought any open shoreline...there were the usual suspects including a few Least Sandpipers....Glossy Ibis was (a) highlight as well as a marauding young Peregrine Falcon that was nicely harassed by a few...(t)erns who did not put up with its presence."

This slightly edited quote from Andrew Baksh's post from Jamaica Bay this morning could apply almost exactly to the well-attended E.L.I.A.S. walk led by Eileen Schwinn this morning on Dune Road, Shinnecock Bay. The Stilt Sandpiper is a rare to uncommon bird on Eastern Long Island; this one was identified by its small size (smaller than the nearby dowitchers), dowitcher-like feeding style, slight drooping curve of its bill, longish yellowish legs, barring on the breast and distinct eye stripe (the rufous cheek -- if there was one -- was not visible with the light mostly behind).

It was a cloudless, sunny, dry warm day with light breezes. The Stilt Sandpiper was working a small pond on a rising tide just west of the Old Ponquogue Bridge Road with a group of Willets, dowitchers (Short-billed presumably), both yellowlegs, peeps (Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers), and Glossy Ibis. There were a few Common Terns in the vicinity but numbers of Least Terns, presumably breeding on the nearby outer beach. Also in the area: both egrets, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Canada Geese, Sanderling, Willow Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Northern Mockingbird, Common Yellowthroat, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Saltmarsh Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow (? I didn't see it), Song Sparrow, American Goldfinch. At least two Northern Harriers came by putting up great clouds of shorebirds; the local
Osprey chicks looked about ready to fledge.

Nice yellow flowers in the area: Prickly Pear Cactus still with its beautiful flowers; Coreopsis (Beggar Ticks); Common St. John's Wort. Also Chicory (Blue Sailors) and Yucca.

Did I forget something? If so, surely someone will catch me up on the list!

Eric Salzman