juvenile White-rumped Sandpiper **confirmed as juvenile Western Sandpiper**

[John Chardine]

I saw this "peep" recently on the Cap d'Espoir beach on the Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec. It looked similar to the Semipalmated Sandpipers I was used to seeing, but somehow it had a different look around the face. Also I checked other images and discovered the wings stuck out beyond the tail, so I'm calling it a White-rumped. The reddish colour to the feathers suggests a young bird to me, but I am ready to be shot down on the ID and the aging of this beautiful bird! These guys are ultra-long-distance travelers: they breed in Arctic North America, and I will see them in the Falkland Islands in about one month from now and they are regularly recorded in Antarctica.

I rotated the image, cropped to about 70 of original size, upped the saturation a bit in LAB colour, and sharpened. The BG is sand and the incoming surf. Comments welcome!

Date: 19 September, 2010, Time: 1611h
Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x, 700 mm
Program: Manual
ISO 800, 1/500s, f/7.1
Exp. comp.: 0.0
Flash: off

[denise ippolito]

Sweet shot I like the BG colors and the pose. Nice sharp details and the composition is lovely. I see just a couple of dark spots in the BG. Very nice image John.:)

[Gary Esman]

Really like the background! Nice and sharp and that little piece of whatever completes the comp for me. Nice soft light. Congrats.:)

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Love that image. The soft and subdued colors in the background nicely set off the very sharp bird. Excellent idea to leave the little piece of seaweed in. Perhaps I might prefer a little bit less of a headturn but that's about it. JR

[Sidharth Kodikal]

John, this is lovely! Beautiful colors and sharpness. I would have preferred a cleaner bill and a bit less head turn, but do love it as is.

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

John
The lovely soft Bkgd and low angle make this image for me
I actually prefer the HA as shown given the intense eye contact.
Very nicely done
PS - you'll just have to ask the sandpipers to improve their table manners to get cleaner beaks ;)

[Dan Brown]

Beautiful shot John! Great low perspective and BG! I am by no means an expert on ID but this may not be a White-rumped, as it lacks speckling or streaking on the white flanks? Did you see this field mark in any of your images of the bird?

[Arthur Morris]

I love, love, love the image, the soft light, the pink beach, and the image design. I am not sure on the ID. John, do you have a side view of the same bird? If you do, please post it here. From what I have seen here I am thinking juvie Western as the bird is pretty long legged and on the stout side. White-rumped is long and low and slim. The plumages are similar. The last juvie WRSA that I saw was with film in prehistoric times :)

[John Chardine]

Thanks to everyone for the great comments. Denise- I will even out the BG to soften the blotches. Artie, I think you might be right about the Western. Just checked Sibley and the rufous upper scapulars, and pale face and breast of this bird fit a Western.

Here's a side view which shows the wings protruding beyond the end of the tail. This could be an illusion due to the angle of the bird but I have a couple of other images which clearly show both wings entending beyond tail. Is the protrusion too much for a Western? Sibley has the wings and tail about even. The other point is distribution- the Western looks to be accidental in the east and non-existent in my neck of the woods. Maybe this one should go to Avian ID eventually!

PS I have White-rumps from Falklands that I'll dig up.

[christopher galeski]

beautiful image John,love the pink sand,the birds nice and sharp,and as been said the seeweed make a nice comp.thanks.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

John, terrific soft colors and pose. Great low angle and I think the leaf adds a nice touch and aids the balance.

[Stu Bowie]

John, I really like the soft light and pastel colours, and your low perspective works well. Fine image.

[James Salywoda]

Gorgeous! The colors are fantastic the bit of debree anchor this nicely and really gives a size perspective to the bird. Well Done!

[John Chardine]

Thanks again for all the comments. I don't think we closed the species ID question after I reposted another image. A good birder in our office has called it a Western and I'm happy to settle on this species.

[John Chardine]

A PM back from BPNer Chris Sloan has confirmed Western Sandpiper. That's great! The distribution maps in the field guide I have seem way out for this species- none show it as occurring even accidentally in my part of the world.