[cobirds] Re: Out of season Long-billed Dowitcher continues at York St & S Platte River

The Long-billed Dowitcher remains exactly where Joe Roller reported him; and we saw him the minute we parked our car and crossed the canal to the sandbar in the river. Also, if you park 1/2 mile north at the Sand Creek mouth you can see 5 or 6 Black-crowned Night Herons which perch in the cottonwoods at the bridge next to the outflow from the water treatment plant. They have been there for several years. Candice Johnson, Denver

On Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 2:16:15 PM UTC-7, Joe Roller wrote:

A basic plumage Long-billed Dowitcher, first reported to eBird by Gabriel Wiltse on Sunday, Jan 28, was seen today at 12:30 PM

at the York St bridge across the South Platte River. See directions below. *

Tom Whitten had found the bird on Jan 25 and after he and I tried again with no luck, he saw it again yesterday, Feb 6, when he captured splendid image seen below. Previous photos by Gabriel and Tom had been taken in poor light, so it's nice to have this one.

The bird is usually feeds within 50 meters of that bridge, upstream or down, although Tom's first sighting was farther downstream at the mouth

of Sand Creek.

Today I saw the bird in excellent light, with a 25-60 zoom scope, about 40 meters away. It was probing in it's Singer sewing machine/Dowitcher 

feeding style in shallow water, and I also saw it sleeping, with its long bill tucked under a wing, and preening.

Description _ This was a rotund, gray shorebird, medium sized and it had that "swallowed a grapefruit" or rounded back appearance, that

is not diagnostic, but often seen, compared to the flat back of the Short-billed Dowitcher. The bill was quite perfectly straight, long, dark, a bit paler near the base. Legs were yellowish-green.

It had a narrow, white supercilum, gray head, neck and upper back. Wings and back were nearly gray, but with some brownish feather edgings.

The flanks were white, spotted not barred, suggesting Long-billed over its less endowed cousin.

Belly and lower chest were white, breast and throat light gray.

Tail was banded above, with dark bands wider than white.

Bird was silent and not seen in flight.

Similar species:

Short-billed Dowitcher has barred flanks, and white tail bands are wider than black ones. Bill size is not reliable, but this one looks long. 

When I heard in January that this dowitcher had been found, I checked eBird and found no CO records for Jan through mid Feb, so this bird 

is quite out of season. It may have spent the winter in this suitable ice-free S Platte habitat. Who knows?

* Driving NW on Interstate 270, exit at York Street and drive south and eventually cross the S Platte River. I chose to park just past the bridge

on the right shoulder, where some gravel trucks were resting. I would not leave a vehicle here all day, but it is not signed. I suggest sticking to the South Platte trail and staying off the bridge, as it is not totally safe with a crumbly sidewalk and big trucks rumbling past.

OR reach that site by driving east on 58th Ave from I-25 to the junction with York, then continue across the bridge and park.

By the way, my eyes and nose told me that this area is the foul underbelly of the Denver industrial zone. It would qualify for the 

axilla of the metro area, but that honor has been garnered by the oil refinery complex nestled nearby along Brighton Blvd.

Joe Roller, Denver

PHOTO CREDIT TOM WHITTEN. THANKS!

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/da1578d3-1ac0-45c0-8221-32ef0c51bf88%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.