[birding] E.E. Wilson snipe, sandpiper, and duck revisited

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

This morning I made a short loop out to the Canal Pond at E.E. Wilson
and found just one LEAST SANDPIPER with the "Shrieking
Plovers" (KILLDEER).

A WILSON'S SNIPE was sneaking around in the rushes on the south side of
the pond. This is one of the parts of the wildlife area where winnowing
displays have been seen in past years, so maybe this bird has been
around all summer -- though now is also the right time for fall migrants
to start showing up.

I had another look at what I'm pretty sure was the same weird duck that
I called a Ruddy Duck a couple of days ago. This time I had my scope
along and I could see a white eye-ring with a bit of a white streak
running through it. I think it might be a female RING-BILLED DUCK rather
than a Ruddy Duck. The bill tip looked broad and plain for that species,
but shape & general pattern seem OK. I watched it floating around next
to the Pied-billed Grebes for a while, and it never raised its tail.

On the trail on the way back, I ran across Paul Sullivan and Carol
Karlen who were headed out to look for the Red-eyed Vireo. So maybe
there will be some additional birds to hear about later today. I didn't
check for the REVI today and have not heard of anyone else going out
there in recent days.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis