Reseeing the Past: Long-billed Dowitcher and Western Sandpiper

On Thursday, I planned to bird the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and got out to the flats just after 8:00.  Upon arriving on the Pond I noticed the paucity of birds but I after a quick scan to the east revealed a mixed flock of some larger shorebirds including Stilt Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs and Short-billed Dowitchers.  While studying these birds, one dowitcher caught my attention.  It was feeding between two definite griseus subspecies SBDOs.  Immediately I thought Long-billed Dowitcher and not hendersonii due to the bird's longer, straighter bill in direct comparison with the two adjacent Short-billeds.  Size wise, this bird was slightly larger than the other two Short-billeds.  I know bill length and size are not clinching identification marks but these along with a completely dark orange breast which extended to the belly past the legs made me think LBDO even more.  Still thinking LBDO, I continued to observe the dowitcher while I checked my Sibley's field guide.  This bird had white markings on the undertail coverts which is unique to LBDOs.  This bird's supercilium was more evenly bolded when compared to the two Short-billeds along side it.  The supercilium on a Short-billed Dowitcher tends to flare and then disperse as you move toward the posterior of the bird from the lore toward the back of the head.  Also, this bird's primary projections ended before the tail while hendersonii SBSOs have their primaries project just past the tail.  I had myself a Long-billed Dowitcher!  Later in the day I received an encouraging text from my friend, expert shorebirder, birdingdude (http://birdingdude.blogspot.com), Andrew Baksh who had refound and confirmed the Long-billed.    

Just after the Long-billed Dowitcher flew off the pond, a medium sized peep flock landed on the exposed shoreline which I was standing on.  Since the birds were so close, binoculars were the way to best study the peeps.  While scanning the multitude of Semipalmated Sandpipers, a bird with a reddish crown, auriculars and scapulars ran through my field of vision.  Western Sandpiper!  I managed to get a two second look at the this beautiful bird which still retained almost all of its alternate plumage including the White-rumped Sandpiper like arrow shaped streaking down the flanks.  Later on into my scans through the flocks of "Semi-Sands" did manage one actual White-rumped Sandpiper. 

I have in my records that I have seen both Long-billed Dowitchers and Western Sandpipers in Jamaica Bay back when I was between seven and ten years old, but that was a long while ago.  It was nice to re-see these birds and study them well now at 18 years old.