Wilson's Snipe Gallinago delicata
Today on my way back to Tacoma from church in Puyallup I made my usual stop at the Levee Pond on the Fife side of the Puyallup River to see if any new shorebirds had dropped in since my last visit. On initial viewing I saw no shorebirds at all, but the pond is starting to dry up in the warm August weather, and so the sand bar in the middle of the pond was high enough that I couldn't see the far shore of the bar from the observation deck.
I walked around to the far side of the bar, and on popping out through the bushed at the side of the pond I flushed a small group of shorebirds. Wilson's Snipe has a very distinctive look in flight. It has a long heavy bill, and it flys in a zig-zag sort of flight that is immediately recognizable. I was able to see where the snipe landed, and got the photo at the top of this post via digiscoping with my iPhone and Kowa scope. The lower photo was with my camera.
Western Sandpipers Calidris mauri
In addition to the snipe there were four juvenile Western Sandpipers and one adult Long-billed Dowitcher limnodromus scolopaceus in the flock that flushed. That was pretty much the extent of my birding today. We continue to have pretty bad smoke issues in the Puget Sound from wildfires throughout the region.
Good birding. Steem on!
