Posted by Phil Pickering (208.46.229.107) on August 11, 2001 at 22:11:24:
In Reply to: mystery peep posted by Robb Hamilton on August 10, 2001 at 00:17:15:
I've been utterly confused by this bird, but I'm afraid I have to waffle again and agree. Thinking back on my original point, which I sort of decided to ignore for some reason, I don't recall ever seeing a juvenile Semi in August or September that was missing any scaps, and it really looks like this bird has molted the lower two rows. I suspect this would be much more typical of Least (as well as Western) than Semi at this time of year. This could be a faded Least with a large-end bill, or a bill that looks thick due to the photo perspective (fooling me badly). I say this partly because I'm having a hard time picturing an eye that large in proportion to the head on a Western or Semi, even when alarmed. Maybe that should have been a clue that the photo overall might be misleading in respect to size and proportions, perhaps because it's such a close up and at a bit of an angle. Also, there do seem to be some traces of rufous on the worn covert fringes, and none of the scaps or coverts seem to have much in the way of defined darker subterminal anchor shapes that are typical of Semi. I don't trust my ability to judge the leg color in the photo, but it does appear to be the typical gray-green of darker legged juvenile Leasts. As Mitch stated (months ago?) the isolated ear "spot" rather than a continuous eye line is more typical of Least, and finally what's visible of the streaking on the side of the breast looks kind of defined, and seems more at home on a juvenile Least rather than juvenile Semi which usually have proportionately thinner streaks covered with a diffuse wash. (And please forgive my excessive posting - I've learned a lot from this site and am trying to help keep it going!)
Cheers,
Phil