RI - TEREK SANDPIPER!

Terek Sandpiper (in flight) - not much of a picture I know, but the broad white trailing edge to the dark wings combined

with the gray rump and tail provide a unique pattern among the smaller shorebirds. 

Napatree Point, Westerly, Washington Co., RI. June 30th, 2020.

On Sunday June 28th I read an intriguing post from Jan St Jean, one of the most active and reliable field birders in Rhode Island - she had found a Terek Sandpiper at Napatree Point! Being with Matan at Thunder Mountain bike park in Charlemont all of that particular day we were in no position to chase it, fearing that it might have moved on by the following day. By pure coincidence, I had long been fascinated by an old New England record of Terek Sandpiper from Plum Island, Essex Co., Massachusetts from June 23rd, 1990. That bird was seemingly found at a time of year when few other migrant shorebirds would have been moving and was apparently a one-day-wonder that was never photographed. How ironic then that Jan St Jean's mega-find would also come in late June! As photographs taken by Carlos Pedro and others appeared in ebird's pages and on Facebook, the Rhode Island bird became more and more haunting and had the courtesy to stick around for several days after Jan's initial find. 

With multiple confirmed sightings on the morning of June 30th, our whole family set sail for the 300 mile round trip to Napatree Point from Northfield, MA with the idea of hitting the rising tide in late afternoon. We left a wet, thundery Northfield just before noon, and drove through heavy rain for the entire journey until we reached Westerly when, miraculously, the clouds parted and the rain ceased. The walk along the sandy peninsula to Napatree Point and lagoon took a little longer than expected but on arrival we were delighted to find a small group of birders keeping track of the Terek Sandpiper in the tide wrack, albeit distantly. From there, the sandpiper played hide-and-seek between bumps and folds in the tide wrack ultimately giving decent scope views but proving almost impossible to photograph at that sort of range. Had Susannah and I not seen multiple Terek Sandpipers on migration in southern Israel some 20+ years ago, the views might even have been described as disappointing but they were certainly good enough to see all the key features on one of the most distinctive of all small/medium sized sandpipers. With shorebird migration barely underway, the Terek Sandpiper had only a few other shorebirds for company, mostly Spotted Sandpipers, a few Willets, and a handful of Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers. Our best views actually came when it roosted for ten or so minutes on the white sand above the tide wrack.

Terek Sandpiper -  here feeding behind a small group of Willets. Gray head and upper breast, very white underparts and gray-brown upperparts. And perhaps a suggestion of the recurved bill in this shot? 

Napatree Point, Westerly, Washington Co., RI. June 30th, 2020.

Found by Jan St Jean on June 28th, 2020. 

Overall, a really fun day and great to experience a portion of the Rhode Island Coast that we'd never seen before. As to the sandpiper, well it was definitely worth the trek. A true 'mega' in every sense with just four previously accepted records for the Lower 48 states. And, with last last New England record some 30 years prior I can't imagine there will be another within driving distance of home any time soon. Remarkably, it seems that we were among the very last birders that evening to see the Terek Sandpiper. Despite being thoroughly searched for on July 1st, it was never seen again. As always, gracious thanks to Jan St Jean for the spectacular find and for keeping us up to speed on the presence of the bird on the as we drove south on the 30th. What a day it was!!