August 13th, 2005. South Beach, Chatham, MA.
| We
tried South Beach again this weekend, and it didn’t disappoint. It was
very windy for most of the day with a gusty south-easterly blasting
sand across the flats and making viewing conditions difficult. However,
we worked hard and found a nice selection of species.
Notables included;
Willet - Apparently both forms. Eastern and Western watched feeding
alongside each other. Probably the first instance in which I’ve really
been able to directly compare the two and how different they are.
Caution is expressed by some authors, as apparently there is some
overlap in characters between the two forms.
Spotted Sandpiper - 1 juvenile feeding almost in the manner of a
Wilson’s Phalarope on the black mud of the ‘lagoon’. Very strange.
Hudsonian Godwit - 30+
Marbled Godwit - 1. Distant but satisfactory looks way out on the flats at low tide.
White-rumped Sandpiper - 2
Dunlin - 1 adult, still retaining some summer plumage including most of the black belly.
Wilson’s Phalarope - 2
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 4 (all immature, first and second summers).
American Herring Gull - 1, dark chocolate juvenile. Our first juv of the season and a nice dark one.
Arctic Tern - 1 first-summer.
Black Tern - 3 (adult molting, plus 2 rather different juveniles).
Black Skimmer - 1, adult flew past as we watched the first Black Tern of the day.
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