19 Aug 2023 South Cape Beach State Park, Barnstable. Photo by Jeff Offermann.
1 records
| MARC number | Decision | Species | # | Location | County | Arrival | Departure | Observers | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-002 | A | Siberian Sand-Plover | 1 | South Cape Beach SP, Mashpee | Barnstable | 8/14/2023 | 8/22/2023 | Mary Keleher* (ph), m. ob. | 26 |
The specifics of this find were chronicled in Bird Observer (Keleher 2023). Remarkably, photos of Siberian Sand-Plovers in nearly identical plumage from Anacosti Island, Quebec, 30 Jul 2023 and Napatree Point, Rhode Island, 5 Aug 2023, must pertain to the same individual given the regional rarity of the species and the potential for highly variable plumage at this season. Prior to 2023 Rhode Island had the only well-documented record from New England. Note that we follow the eBird/Clements taxonomy in splitting Siberian Sand-Plover (A. mongolus) from Tibetan Sand-Plover (A. atrifrons); AOS still treats both taxa within Lesser Sand-Plover (Charadrius mongolus). This bird was identifiable as Siberian by its well-defined white forehead patch, since A. atrifrons has a fully dark forehead in breeding plumage.