Work sent me to Fargo today. A beautiful day for a drive and time to stop and look at some shorebirds.
Red-tailed hawks along the way out were all lighter than I am use to seeing in the cities, especially on their heads. One pair of hawks sitting on hay bails on the north side of I-94 just east of mile 118 near Osakis looked like Ferruginous, but at 70+mph, all I could say for sure was that they were worth a second look. Stopped at Barnesville on the way back and checked out their very birdy sewerage ponds. Found an unidentified sandpiper (described below) that I studied a while and: Red-necked Phalaropes (5) Eared Grebe good variety of ducks At least eight varieties of shorebirds plus one unidentified sandpiper: smaller than lesser yellowlegs, estimated size 7 to 9". body shaped like yellowlegs, but yellow-green legs were shorter. Bill was longish (~ 1.5 x length of head), dark,thick at base and slightly decurved. Crown was rusty brown and streaked. Had a line through the eye. wings (and back?) was rich brown and sculpted. Primaries were dark with light edges. neck and breast was a rich buffy color and essentially unstreaked, although there was some faint streaking down the sides. Belly and under tail were white. Tail and upper tail coverts were white, with a black terminal smudge on tail, but might not be on all the tail feathers, The tail is unique, and easily marks the bird as the target. The bird does not match anything I can find. Perhaps someone else will be able to look at it and recognize it. In retrospect I believe it is an aberrant. Steve Weston on Quigley Lake in Eagan swest...@comcast.net
