An Early Solitary Sandpiper

The morning after the excitement of the White-rumped Sandpiper at the SYRE, I had arranged a bird survey at Laguna Blanca – a freshwater lake in the upscale Hope Ranch area of Santa Barbara. The lake is surrounded by a golf course, but it is shut for maintenance every Monday morning and the La Cumbre Country Club has kindly given us access to survey the lake for birds during those periods.

Since water levels were still too high for any extensive mudflats to have formed, my main purpose was to look for breeding records for the on-going California Bird Atlas project. I was joined by Hugh Ranson and we also kept an eye open for dragonflies and damselflies but were disappointed to only see very common species.

There were plenty of (American) Coot and Pied-billed Grebe families in evidence and some well-grown Ruddy Duck ducklings confirmed breeding for that species as well. Otherwise, a summering Bufflehead was really the only bird of note.

Eclipse Male Bufflehead

The edge of the lake had narrow shallow margins that were suitable for some shorebirds, although in the normal course of events, disturbance from the golfers would prevent them staying for long. About two-thirds of the way around the lake, I noticed a somewhat distant shorebird feeding on the lake shore. It was apparent that it was either a Solitary or a Spotted Sandpiper and the jizz looked much better for the former. Getting closer, we quickly confirmed that it was indeed a Solitary Sandpiper and the earliest ever for Santa Barbara County in fall by three days. A nice reward for doing the breeding bird survey.

Solitary Sandpiper

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