I was at Ottawa NWR yesterday and there were good numbers of shorebirds on pool 2B. In the NW corner of the impoundment, I was looking at a small goup of Killdeer on a small mudflat, and I believe that I saw a Juvenile Piping Plover. It was a very small bird next to the Killdeer, and looked very pale gray in the same light as the Killdeer(s). As I am newer to shorebird identification, what immature or light morphs of other species should I be looking at to rule out a misidentification?
The single bird that I saw was very small, had a very round head, and a short, stocky all black bill. There was a single, light grey clearly defined belt, and very faint white supercillium. I did not trust the color of the legs. The wings tucked neatly into the tail section, and I could not see any defined marks on the subscapulars, coverts or tertials. I heard no calls from the specimen, and saw if in a variety of angles. It did not get to see the bird in flight.
I was unaware of how rare this bird is in Ohio when I was looking at it, so I was rather confident of my ID at the time. As I have been reasearching more, I am becoming sceptical of my initial identification.
Has anyone else seen these at Ottawa this year? Is the timing correct?
Thanks,
Chris
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