A Crazy Week for Rarities

This is a crappy photo of a Ruff I saw on Friday last week

   In my last post I wrote about a bird that should be in Siberia right now, a Tereks Sandpiper. Only a few had ever been seen in the Lower 48 and never in Rhode Island. Many birders were on a high all week from seeing a bird that should be in Asia and Europe.

   On Thursday I went on a whale watch. We didn't see any whales which was bad for people looking for whales, but quite delightful for people looking for birds. Because we didn't see any whales, we got a free pass for a future whale watch (after Covid restrictions are lifted). While on the whale watch I was talking with my friend Alex. After we got home, Alex texted me to tell me about a Ruff (that is the full name) that was in Fairhaven, MA.The last one that was seen in Rhode Island was a few years back. I chased it but missed it. Alex and I made plans to go look for it for Friday morning.

The bird was easy to see. It was hanging out in the middle of a saltmarsh with the sun at our back. We had it within seconds of getting out of the cars. However, we watched it for a couple of hours. Ruff is a really cool looking bird. It has feathers that stick out. My pics are nothing more than proof photos. Still I was pretty excited to get a second lifebird in less than a week (I had gotten two all year before last week).

   On Sunday while Laurie and I were driving to a little hike my phone started blowing up that a Red Necked Stint was at Napatree found by Bill Thompson. My first thought was the same as the week before "Why does it have to be a Sunday? Why the F does it have to be Napatree? I decided not to drag Laurie down. She was kind enough to go last week I wasn't asking her to go again. So we went on our little hike. Did I mention this is another bird that had never been seen in Rhode Island!!!

 

Red-Necked Stint

 But... when the bird was still there on Monday I went. A Red Necked Stint is a European shorebird (that is the theme for this post), I had at least heard of it as opposed to the Tereks. I went straight after work and my friend Jan met me. While we were walking out, our phones were blowing up. Apparently another possible stint was being seen at Charlestown Breachway! I kept walking. I wasn't leaving one bird for another possible bird. I saw the Red Necked Stint and got some crumby photos into  the sun.

   While I was trying to enjoy this unbelievably rare species it turned out the other stint in Charlestown was a Little Stint. A Little Stint (say it with me) is a European shorebird. It was found by Tim Metcalf. As you can expect it is unbelievably rare to see in the US. However, there has been one other report of one in Rhode Island ever! I made the decision to stay

Little Stint

 with the Red-Necked Stint, the devil may care. I didn't want it to just be a check mark. I wanted to enjoy it and get good photos. I may never see another one again. If I missed the Little Stint, I could live with that decision. Luckily we refound the bird. I had good light and got good, not great, photos of it. I really enjoyed my time I spent.

   After I got my photos the bird flew to the other side of the channel where I first saw it. I knew I couldn't get any better shots. It was about 6:20 pm. I hauled ass out of there and headed to the Breachway. I knew I'd get there with close to an hour of daylight. There were a bunch of  birders getting this bird since most of them saw the Red-Necked Stint on Sunday.

Another photo of the Little Stint. The main difference
between the two is it has white on the throat.

Sure enough when I crossed the channel to the mudflats there were five birders there including my friend Jess that stayed to keep an eye on the bird for me. I had it in my scope within 20 seconds of looking through it. It was pretty far away and the light was fading so my view wasn't great. Since it was getting dark everyone else left. However, since I just got there I tried to get some photos.  It was with a flock of 50 or so other birds. Every couple minutes they would spook and fly around. Then I would have to sift through them again to find the Little Stint. It was a challenge but I got one good photo. Nothing compared to the ones I've seen today, but still I got a decent life photo of a lifebird.

  As you read this, I can not impress upon you enough how amazing this week was. Having two state first in a week is almost statistically impossible. The most common of these four birds, the Ruff, shows up like every five years. The best fishing equivalent is catching a fifty pound Redfish from shore and then driving down the road and catching a 200 pound tarpon both in Rhode Island. Because neither of them belong here.  In a nine day period I saw four European shorebirds. All lifers, three are state birds for RI and one in MA. Two of those birds had never been seen by a birder in Rhode Island. The Little Stint had been seen once. This week was crazy!