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I spent several rewarding hours at Grand Pre close to high tide this afternoon (Aug. 28). The overall number of shorebirds was much lower than on my previous visits (it looked like most of the Semipalmated Sandpipers had moved on), but the number of species was better than I've seen before and the birds often came really close to me. Here's the list of shorebirds I saw (estimates are quick and dirty for anything over a handful of individuals): Black-bellied Plover -- 3 American Golden-Plover -- 1 Semipalmated Plover -- 50 Ruddy Turnstone -- 2 juveniles (I think I also saw a flying adult, but not sure) Sanderling -- 4 Semipalmated Sandpiper -- 100 WESTERN SANDPIPER -- 1 (there were actually several individuals which looked suspiciously like Westerns, but I'm only sure about one) Least Sandpiper -- 60 White-rumped Sandpiper -- 1 I got a fantastic, extended view of the Western from about thirty feet away. It was also close to several Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers, providing a great chance to compare the species. It was a juvenile with upper scapulars edged in rufous and lower scapulars gray with dark anchor with white/offwhite edging. It had a significantly longer bill than the other sandpipers around it. The bill drooped slightly. Black legs. The face was relatively pale, though within the range for Semipalmated Sandpipers. Now a question for those well-versed in sandpiper plumages: Sibley's mentions that Westerns molt earlier than Semipalmateds. The suggestion seems to be that birds that are mostly or entirely molted into nonbreeding plumage by this time of the year are likely to be Westerns. But am I right in thinking that around here -- where Westerns are rare -- a nonbreeding plumaged bird in August is still more likely to be an early-molting Semipalmated than a Western? The reason I ask is because I saw one or two birds that had almost entirely finished molting (they still had a few black scapulars with the edging worn off among the gray) that had relatively long, drooping bills that made me suspect Western. But I know that bill lengths can be variable and I wasn't sure how much to make of the fact that they were this far along with molting. Best wishes, Sydney Penner 114 Willow Ave. Berwick, NS
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