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Checklist S194649921

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Main Details

Location Woodland WTP
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Additional Details

People

Owner Joshua Greenfield

Effort

Protocol:  Traveling
  • Observers:  1
  • Distance:  4 mi

Checklist Comments

Scanning NRP, then doing a loop of the south ponds, then absolutely scouring them to try to refind the wood sandpiper with about a dozen other birders.

Totals

68
Species Observed
3,980 individuals
3
Species with Photos

Observations

  1. Snow Goose

    Number observed:  2

    Details

    Continuing.

  2. Greater White-fronted Goose

    Number observed:  5

    Details

    Continuing, only managed to find five on any given scan.

  3. Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima)

    Number observed:  150

  4. Wood Duck

    Number observed:  1

  5. Cinnamon Teal

    Number observed:  500

  6. Northern Shoveler

    Number observed:  200

  7. Gadwall

    Number observed:  50

  8. American Wigeon

    Number observed:  6

  9. Mallard

    Number observed:  25

  10. Northern Pintail

    Number observed:  30

  11. Green-winged Teal

    Number observed:  100

  12. Canvasback

    Number observed:  4

  13. Redhead

    Number observed:  2

  14. Ring-necked Duck

    Number observed:  1

  15. Lesser Scaup

    Number observed:  2

  16. Bufflehead

    Number observed:  2

  17. Ruddy Duck

    Number observed:  30

  18. Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)

    Number observed:  50

  19. Eurasian Collared-Dove

    Number observed:  2

  20. Mourning Dove

    Number observed:  8

  21. Common Gallinule

    Number observed:  2

  22. American Coot

    Number observed:  200

  23. Black-necked Stilt

    Number observed:  150

  24. American Avocet

    Number observed:  200

  25. Black-bellied Plover

    Number observed:  2

  26. Killdeer

    Number observed:  20

  27. Semipalmated Plover

    Number observed:  3

  28. Long-billed Curlew

    Number observed:  1

  29. Long-billed Dowitcher

    Number observed:  1000

  30. Wilson's Phalarope

    Number observed:  3

  31. Red-necked Phalarope

    Number observed:  200

  32. Spotted Sandpiper

    Number observed:  1

  33. Wood Sandpiper

    Number observed:  1

    Details

    Small (solitary sandpiper-sized) tringa with warm gray-brown coloration above, distinct pale spotting/spangling on the back, long yellow legs tinged slightly green, relatively short and heavy bill with slight droop and pale straw color at the base with a dark tip. Bold white supercilium strongly contrasting with a dark brown cap, with a dark eye stripe running through a mostly unbroken thin white eye ring. Brown mottling/streaking on the neck and upper breast, white below, and white rump and upper tail with darker terminal band. The leading edge of the underwing was dark, while the rest of the underwing coverts were white with dark edges.

    As I walked up to the northeast corner of pond 11 around 8:20am, I noticed a bird standing by itself in the southeast corner (38.656041, -121.710822) that seemed out of place. By overall size and shape it had to be a tringa, but with no other birds nearby I had no size reference. My first thought was lesser yellowlegs, but the mantle was a much warmer brown than I've ever seen on a LEYE, the facial pattern was bolder, and the bill seemed too short and heavy with a slight downward droop. After moving closer to get more photos in better light I considered solitary sandpiper, but the legs were too long and too bright yellow, and I was able to see that the rump was entirely white when the bird flew a few yards, further ruling out pectoral and sharp-tailed sandpipers. The bill was much too short for stilt sandpiper or curlew sandpiper, seemingly leaving two options: a very unusual LEYE, or a wood sandpiper. I also noted that the leading edge of the underwing was dark, consistent with wood sandpiper, but given the rarity I wasn't confident in the ID.

    I sent back-of-camera photos to Zane P, and continued my loop around the ponds. I got a phone call about an hour later, posted to the local rare bird group, and started trying to refind the bird with the help of at least a dozen other birders. We had no luck until I saw a small brown tringa pick up from the northwest corner of pond 2 (38.657087, -121.718818) and start flying due west at 10:30am. I got it in bins and expected to follow it to the horizon, but it looked like it dropped down directly on top of some awnings at a storage facility to the west of the WTP, just north of Farmers Central pond. I communicated this to the group and to Elliot S, who walked down the levee behind me a moment later. He left to go look in that direction, and remembered that there was a small drainage pond behind the storage facility; he eventually refound the bird there shortly after 11am, where it stayed for the rest of the afternoon and was observed by many other birders, after Bart W and Zane P negotiated access with the owners.

    This appears to be the fifth record in California, and the first in the central valley.

    Photos.

    Second checklist from the storage facility: https://ebird.org/checklist/S194681119

    Media

  34. Lesser Yellowlegs

    Number observed:  1

  35. Greater Yellowlegs

    Number observed:  25

  36. Baird's Sandpiper

    Number observed:  1

    Media

  37. Least Sandpiper

    Number observed:  300

  38. Western Sandpiper

    Number observed:  150

  39. Semipalmated Sandpiper

    Number observed:  1

    Details

    Continuing in the flock of peeps on pond 3. Dark legs, short tubular bill, no rufous in the crown or scapulars, cooler gray color with finer black dotting than WESA. Photos.

    Media

  40. Ring-billed Gull

    Number observed:  2

  41. California Gull

    Number observed:  125

  42. Caspian Tern

    Number observed:  2

  43. Pied-billed Grebe

    Number observed:  75

  44. Eared Grebe

    Number observed:  2

  45. Western Grebe

    Number observed:  2

  46. White-faced Ibis

    Number observed:  100

  47. Snowy Egret

    Number observed:  35

  48. Green Heron

    Number observed:  1

  49. Great Egret

    Number observed:  5

  50. American White Pelican

    Number observed:  12

  51. Turkey Vulture

    Number observed:  2

  52. Northern Harrier

    Number observed:  1

  53. Swainson's Hawk

    Number observed:  1

  54. Red-tailed Hawk

    Number observed:  1

  55. Black Phoebe

    Number observed:  1

  56. Loggerhead Shrike

    Number observed:  2

  57. California Scrub-Jay

    Number observed:  1

  58. Tree Swallow

    Number observed:  25

  59. Barn Swallow

    Number observed:  50

  60. Cliff Swallow

    Number observed:  10

  61. Marsh Wren

    Number observed:  1

  62. European Starling

    Number observed:  2

  63. House Sparrow

    Number observed:  25

  64. House Finch

    Number observed:  8

  65. Western Meadowlark

    Number observed:  2

  66. Red-winged Blackbird

    Number observed:  40

  67. Brewer's Blackbird

    Number observed:  6

  68. Great-tailed Grackle

    Number observed:  10
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