After poring over thousands of migrant Semipalmated Sandpipers (SESA) during the last 10 days looking for something different traveling among them and finally giving up for the day today, I was drawn to a small flock of Black-bellied Plovers as I drove up the Beach Road. I stopped the car and, finding no Golden among them, took a quick look up the bayside shoreline which at first glance appeared devoid of all but several Semipalmated Plovers and a handful of SESA. In truth there were many more SESA than I first thought (at least 150) all strung out along the water's edge.

As I looked quickly through the SESAs I pulled up short when I saw strong markings on the flanks of one of the birds. When I got the bird in my scope, I could see that the marks were clearly triangular in shape and the bird was definitely not a White-rumped Sandpiper - my first thougt when seeing flank markings. I've never seen a Western Sandpiper in breeding plumage - only in a clear-breasted basic or transitional state - but I remembered that "chevron" markings were characteristic for an alternate plumaged Western.

This individual is well into its transition from breeding to basic plumage. The red/rust coloring is all gone except for a dark rusty smudge on its "nose" just above the bill, and the back already shows numerous gray feathers. The bill is neither long nor downcurved though it does come to somewhat more of a point than that of a SESA. Honestly, though, were it not for the chevrons on the underparts I would never have guessed that this was a Western Sandpiper. Some guides speak of the WESA being more bulky and/or more heavy-headed than SESA, but after looking at SESAs for days and seeing much variation in their size, heft, and bill lengths and thicknesses, I don't beleive I would have thought twice about this being a WESA - except for the chevrons!

The following photo (click "next" upper right) shows the lingering dark red spot on the nose/forehead as well as the underside of the left wing and the left flank.

One wonders how many Westerns actully do pass through our area undetected given that had this one not hung on to its chevrons I suspect most of us would have missed it - I know I would! Incidentally, I had a very different looking Western late last September - still had the red, no chevrons, and a more typical bill http://www.pbase.com/rickbowes/image/146176376). Hard to believe they are the same species.