Snowy Plover: Rare Bird Alert for Idaho

I had the privilege of birding with three of Idaho's top birders, J. Harry Krueger, Heidi Ware, and Jay Carlisle along with three of the crack birders from the IBO John, Stephanie, and Kurt.  This afternoon we went to Black's Creek, Indian Creek, and the Mayfield area...but more about that in a later post.

Jay spotted a Snowy Plover at Black's Creek which is rare species for Idaho.  Only a handful of records have been well documented and approved by the Idaho Bird Review Committee, so we had to be thorough.  RL Rowland had seen and photographed a Snowy Plover at Black's Creek a couple of weeks ago, but it had not been seen since.  Is this the same bird or another passing through?  Who knows.

This next photo shows the nice rufous crown compared to the light brown upper parts and wings.

The next two photos show the incomplete black necklace.

This shot helps one see the relative size of the Snowy Plover as compared to nearby Least Sandpipers.