A Brit abroad

Abbott's Lagoon

Yesterday I joined Kevin, Karen, Roger and Julie at the shorebird mecca of Abbott's Lagoon. Over the last week, the site had played host to a number of California rarities, including a Yellow Wagtail, so hopes were high that the birding would be good. The day got off to a cold, misty start - in fact, I was worried that my optics would be unusably misty for the rest of the day! The shorebirds at this site are amazingly approachable, and I was able to get excellent close views of Snowy Plovers and many Red-necked Phalaropes.

Roger found us our first rare bird of the day - a particularly obliging Buff-breasted Sandpiper. In fact, this bird was almost too obliging to digiscope, and I found myself constantly backing away from it to keep it in the frame!

In a very short space of time the weather changed from cold and foggy to hot and sunny, revealing large numbers of shorebirds dotted around the lagoon. Shortly after seeing the Buff-breast, we located four good birds on the same stretch of mud! A few Common Terns came in to rest, showing the characteristic dark carpal bar. This one can be identified as a juvenile by the scaly back and brownish smudging on the face.

This smart American Golden Plover would often duck into the long grass to feed...

... as did this Ruff. Bright upperparts and greenish legs age it as a juvenile - anyone know how to sex this bird?

This Pectoral Sandpiper was very elusive, only coming out onto the open mud when the other shorebirds were flushed by marauding Peregrine and Prairie Falcons.

Other unusual birds for this location included a Blue-winged Teal, a couple of White-faced Ibis, a skulking American Bittern and an early Vesper Sparrow. We saw so many birds here today that I'm tempted to start keeping a Marin County list!

Posted by rjhall at September 14, 2004 2:15 AM