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Hi All,
I arrived on Cape Sable Island today at 6:20 AM and had 6 species of shorebirds before daybreak at Daniel’s Head. The tide had been low during the night and it was easy to hear the different species feeding in the dark. Daylight allowed me to see that there were actually 8 species present, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher and Sanderling. Unfortunately no Broad-billed Sandpiper.
Thirty minutes later the sand flats were covered and so the search was on, for the high tide location of the Broad-billed. Thankfully Clyde Stoddart showed up a few minutes later to aid in the search.
We were on our way to the Hawk Beach, a popular high tide site for shorebirds when we spotted a few shorebirds feeding in the Guzzel.
Just about then Murray Newell materialized out of thin air, chatted for a moment and in typically Murray style was off again. A minute or two later “poof” Murray was back. He said he couldn’t stay and very generously left us his expensive scope to bird with. No more than 90 seconds later at 8:32 AM in flew the Broad-billed Sandpiper. For those that know the area, the Broad-billed flew in from Stump Cove, for those that don’t know Stump Cove it is the cove that is to your back if you are facing the Guzzel.
As it flew in with 30 Black-bellied Plovers I was impressed at how the dark leading edge of the wings made it easy to pick out the Broad-billed. My book said that the leading edge was blackish but in the direct morning light it appeared more of a dark brown.
The group of birds flew over top of the Guzzel and joined a smaller flock of Black-bellied Plovers on the left hand tip of the Hawk Beach. We hiked along the edge of the Guzzel and although a wide channel separated us from the roosting birds, Murray’s scope allowed us to clearly see the split supercilium.
Little more than an hour later I met up with Iain Wilkes, a friendly Ontario birder that had seen Murray’s posting on the Broad-billed Sandpiper. We searched through the flock of Black-bellied Plovers on the left hand tip of the Hawk Beach which had in the meantime been joined by a number of Semipalmated Plovers, Sanderlings, White-rumped Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, and Red Knots. The rather large group was mostly sleeping, with bills and legs tucked out of sight much of the time. This made the effort to find Broad-billed Sandpiper rather more difficult but after several careful searches we determined that the Broad-billed Sandpiper was no longer with this group.
We returned to the Guzzel as it was the closest site with actively feeding shorebirds and within minutes found the Broad-billed. It was feeding in one of the furthest away pools but was findable just using binoculars and made a great view in the scope. This was at 11:32 AM.
While feeding it reminded me of a Wilson’s Snipe in its behavior and in its general shape it was like a Dunlin. It was a bit like someone had combined these two species into one bird. Once again the split supercilium was quite evident as well as a large dark spot behind the eye. It was a juvenile plumage bird which from the little bit of checking I did, many if not all of the North American sightings have been of birds in this plumage.
I would like to thank
1. Clyde Stoddart who found the original mixed flock of Black-bellied Plovers and Sanderlings which had the Broad-billed Sandpiper.
2. Johnny Nickerson who came along and quickly identified the Broad-billed Sandpiper. Johnny was already quite familiar with this species as he had seen one on the island about 4 years ago.
3. Murray Newell who spread the news by placing the posting on Nature NS.
I would also like to thank all three as well as Sandra Nickerson for their help today.
Other birds of interest present at Daniels Head within the first 30 minutes of daylight included 2 Peregrine Falcons (anatum), 2 Great Egrets, & 2 Adult Black-crowned Night Herons.
As an answer to Andy Dean, I believe that the two sightings mentioned in this posting are the only two sightings of Broad-billed Sandpiper for Nova Scotia.
On a continental basis the Broad-billed Sandpiper is an even rarer species the Red-necked Stint. So if one has to choose which bird to go looking for I would go for the Broad-billed. In addition the Red-necked Stint on Dyke Road has not been seen since Friday and may be gone. The way this fall has been going though another may surface before the shorebird season is over.
In addition I learned today that a third Aleutian /Alaskan speciality has been seen in the province recently. Two weeks ago Johnny Nickerson saw a Little Stint on Cape Sable Island.
- All the Best in Birding, Clarence
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