San Diego NWR pond 23 "island" – Little Stint, November 17, 2018

Back on October 20, 2018 Charlie Jackson submitted an eBird report here
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49329305

with interesting but distant photographs of a peep which had characteristics consistent possibly with Little Stint. The photographs were considered too distant to be certain of the identification. At that point it was left with the hope it might be seen again among the several thousands plus peeps now wintering in the local area.

While in the NWR on November 16, 2018 Matt Sadowski detected the bird again, testament to his amazing skills of observation, and then eventually it was refound again in the morning today November 17, 2018 being seen by a few observers.  The location is readily observed from the public bike path and a public viewing area off the bike path.

Lack
of palmations to the feet (i.e. no webs between inner and outer toes)
and primary feather tips projecting beyond the tertials of the wing
leading to Red-necked/Little Stint identification. The bill length,
quite long for a stint, and shape with fine tapered thinner tip, long legs, split
white supercilium visible in many images, head shape rounded up at the fore-crown higher, back shape more rounded when crouched feeding,
characteristics all suggest Little Stint identification.

It appears to be in first basic plumage with retained juvenile wing coverts and tertials.

The
bird seems to have a strong affinity to a small thin island just inside
the NWR pond 23 and is visible from the new public viewing area,
or along the public bike path nearby, accessed from north terminus of
8th St., Imperial Beach (the junction is with Boulevard Ave.) and walk a
short distance east along the bike path to the viewing area. The bird
likes to feed between two dead tumbleweeds, one flat and one round,
laying on the opposite sides of the small island which is visible just a
few yards from the front of pond 23. It seems to like to be feeding
about half way up and on the east side of the small island.

GPS cooordinates along the bike path where you can view from are 32.589820, -117.113294

Photographs of the Little Stint, including some alongside a Western Sandpiper, can be seen in the eBird checklist here https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50007370

This species record pending CBRC acceptance.

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