Another Bird I.D. Please

Well, I'm pretty sure that this group of 4 that were kind enough to pose for me today are some kind of Sandpiper. I cannot figure out which species though.

I was sitting at the edge of my favorite pond and they just landed right in front of me and stayed there for about 15 minutes. When they flew it was in a tight formation, close to the water and fast.

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2 more...........

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..........and 2 more.

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Damn Great shots!

I'm afraid I don't know one Piper from another.. but I do know this.. I shot the same bird today! (amongst others)

Your pictures are wonderfull, clear and detailed so if somone comes along that really knows there stuff. they should be able to ID from these images..

When I get around to running my shots through the PP,. I'll try and look it up .. but there are so many that look so similar!

I'm pretty sure it's a least Sandpiper , I think the semi-palmated sandpiper has black legs and the least has yellow, nice images

Thanks guys, I forwarded some of the images to my local Audubon Society also, but I probably won't hear back from them till at least Monday. In the mean time I hope someone on here will be able to post a positive I.D. liv2trip I think you may be correct that they are "Least Sandpipers."

One website I tried to confirm the identity on provided me with 12 possible species and they all look quite similar. Hopefully we will have an expert on here know for certain.

Least Sandpiper was about the closest match in the Sibley book, but it wasn't exactly a perfect match to any of them. Wetness on the legs and feathers can make it confusing.

---Bob Gross---

Nice captures Airedale. I was photographing these little birds last year when I noticed one seemed in trouble in the water on the other side of a small pond. When I got around to where it was I discover that it had been attacked and killed by a foot long snapping turtle! That's nature I guess.

ILeast SP for sure. The greenish legs give it away.

Thanks to all. So, they are in fact Calidris minutilla, Least Sandpipers. Before coming to this site I had never paid much mind to bird photography. So, many folks on here post so many fantastic images of birds from all over the world. This website is a wonderful classroom and again, thanks to all.

Another vote for Least. These are about the only species I've gotten good shots of in the past 2 weeks. You can see the greenish yellow legs very well here.