Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda

I'm not sure when it started, but for a long, long time I've wanted to see an Upland Sandpiper. They rarely occur in Australia and are rare in the Chicagoland area. In fact, according to research their numbers are declining at a worrying rate internationally.

Based on IBET posts, we headed out late this morning to McHenry County to see if we could locate them. And here's the great thing about IBET: just as reported, we pulled over at a likely field and quickly found an Upland Sandpiper, then another and another until we got to seven!

The Uplands were joined by about a hundred Brewer's Blackbirds and at least two Western Meadowlarks. How often is it you can see three rare birds in one field at the same time? I can tell you, not very often!

The photos here were taken in extreme heat (hence strong heat haze) and at a great distance but they clearly show the details of the bird. Its relatively easy to confuse this bird with a Buff-breasted Sandpiper but the Buff-breasted is significantly smaller, has extensive buffy color on it and has a shorter, dark bill compared with the Upland's yellow bill with black tip.