World Shorebird’s Day Challenges me with some Mystery Birds

 Yellowlegs in Flight at Wharton Point 9-6-14

I’ll make no bones about it. I am still learning my shorebirds, so when I went out to count birds on World Shorebirds Day at Wharton’s Point in Brunswick, Maine, wouldn’t you know I would encounter some bird species I could not identify. This is, of course, an excellent opportunity to learn, but I think I need some help with some of these. I could tell they were different, but have yet to figure out who they are! However, I do know Black-bellied Plovers and Double-crested Cormorants when I see them!

Black-bellied Plovers with Double-crested Cormorants in the bay.

 

Double-crested Cormorants in Maquoit Bay 9-6-14

These Snowy Egrets below were pretty easy to figure out!

In spite of the tall grasses, their white feathers are a beacon against the green and gold!

But then I spotted this fellow bobbing in the waves!

Mystery Bird #1

Notice the way is rides in the water. It is different than a gull.

This is it in comparison to some gulls. The mystery bird is on the right.

Suddenly the bird took flight and I snapped some shots.

Notice the gray to brownish breast, the white belly, the dark legs, and the gray to brown terminal band on the tail. I cannot find a picture like this in my bird guide, except maybe a jaeger? Perhaps a shearwater? But I could not find one colored like this.

Here’s another shot as it banked and turned.

 

This is hugely cropped, but this is the best view from below.

Any ideas anyone?

Update: I now believe this is a Parasitic Jaeger and have added it to my eBird checklist for this day! (see correction below)

11-19-14 **Double Update: This is an immature Laughing gull!  

I have now deleted Jaeger from my eBird checklist and added Laughing Gull. Thank you Doug Hitchcock and Kyle Lima for your help!

This Greater Yellowlegs is much easier to identify!

 

I love to watch them feeding in the water by sweeping their heads back and forth!

You can see that those long legs are very useful!

 

Front view of the Greater yellowlegs in the surf.

But then there were these two to baffle me again.

They are about the size of a Black-bellied plover, but the bill isn’t right.

 

 

 

Any ideas anyone with more shorebird experience than me?

In the shot below you can see their size in relation to the yellowlegs.

Once I get this figured out I will post the answers here.

World Shorebird’s Day sure was fun as well as a challenge!

Now that winter is almost here, all these shorebirds are long gone.

But the good news is, we have our winter birds returning!

• World Shorebird’s Day web page
• World Shorebird’s Day Summary Report 1
• World Shorebird’s Day Summary Report 2
• World Shorebird’s Day Facebook page
• My eBird checklist for Wharton’s Point on 9-6-2014