Help with bird ID?

[helen...@gmail.com]

I saw a wader / sandpiper yesterday on the Sheepscot River in Alna.

It looked bigger than a semi-palmated, it did bob its head a bit, but not repeatedly. Shorter black bill, black legs, soft mottled breast that seemed to have a subtle divide at center, and did not carry down too far, then a very clean break to a white belly and under tail. It looked like the wings extended beyond the tail.  A slight eye ring, also a bit of a white smudge at the lore. Seemed to me to look more grey than brown, but the sunlight was quite harsh on it.

I'm thinking it was a Baird's Sandpiper? 

It hung out on a rock for a good while, it wasn't trying to feed,  just resting. The river is quite low there, about 2 feet.

I posted a few not great photos I got using my iPhone through my binoculars.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/190664271@N07/albums/72157719740894835

[chr...@myfairpoint.net]

At the risk of making a fool out of myself, I'm going to say Solitary Sandpiper.  Size is always tricky on a lone bird, but eye ring looks like Solitary, as do the other markings.

Someone will tell me if I'm  wrong.

Wally S.

--
Maine birds mailing list
maine...@googlegroups.com
http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds
https://sites.google.com/site/birding207
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/3403e4e6-4697-46f1-9d11-5c6ff75b6451n%40googlegroups.com.

[helen...@gmail.com]

Thank you. Yes, I got the same ID from Louis Bevier. 
I thought Solitary at first because the eye ring looked so clear, but the beak and legs were so dark. Also it seemed a little shorter, hunkered down on the rock.

All of which shows the difficulty looking at birds in such bright sunlight, and I agree no nearby birds for comparison!

Helen