Date: 8/9/26 3:59 pm From: Dave Compton via groups.io <davcompton60...> Subject: Re: [sbcobirding] Area K this morning (Aug 9)
Hi Florence and everyone,
The Semipalmated Sandpiper was close in and easily identified in the early
afternoon, at least for a few minutes. I took my eye off it and lost it,
after getting good looks. If I had seen it even in the middle of the basin,
it might've been hard to ID, with the heat haze.
Shorebird numbers and variety were decent enough, for an area as small as
Area K, but not as good as they can be here. Both dowitcher species were
present, as were Lesser Yellowlegs (heard, then seen flying off to the
east), Greater Yellowlegs, Western and Least Sandpiper (a few dozen peeps
overall), Killdeer, and Semipalmated Plover. All the Black-necked Stilts I
saw were in Basin B/C, the basin farther east that has a bunch of water at
the moment. Some phalaropes were out there, too, but I could not say for
sure which kind.
Dave Compton
Santa Barbara
On Sun, Aug 9, 2026 at 2:43 PM Florence Sanchez via groups.io
<sanchezucsb11...> wrote:
> After getting the Red-eyed Vireo, I went to area K where Nick Lethaby
> reported a Semi-palmated Sandpiper last evening.
>
> As I anticipated, the glare from the morning sun made viewing difficult
> but I resolutely combed through a group of about 25 Sandpipers repeatedly
> without coming up with anything I felt comfortable calling a Semi-palmated
> Sandpiper. I did keep coming back to a bird that appeared to be an adult
> Baird's sandpiper, but I needed a better (or closer) view to be sure.
> Finally, eyestrain and a headache forced me to give it up for this morning.
>
> I stopped at Devereux where I did not turn up the Neotropic Cormorant.
> There was a nice group of shorebirds feeding on a small mudflat just north
> of the half-bridge. Nothing rare among them. I couldn't help wishing that
> the Semi-palmated Sandpiper had shown up there where the viewing was good,
> there was no heat shimmer, and one could stand in shade to observe.
>
> Florence Sanchez
>
>
>
>
