A strange TERN of events...

Tweet A Little Gull was reported by another birder yesterday morning at East Fork State Park Beach.  I had to work, so I couldn't get there until evening.  I did not find a Little Gull, but did find the winter plumage Forster's Tern that has been there since at least last Thursday.

This morning (Sunday), I was off work, so I arrived at about 9am at the beach at East Fork.  There were already about 5 or so birders with scopes looking at a bird.  I was hoping that it was a Little Gull, as I have only seen one and it was far away.  This bird was resting on the sand.  Since I have had my scope stolen, I had only binos and my camera.  A couple of birders asked if I would like to see the Little Gull, so I of course said yes.  The only thing is, the bird I was looking at was not a Little Gull.  In fact, it wasn't a gull at all.
They had a few field guides opened to Little Gull on an old water fountain.  I began to suggest other possibilities that the bird might be.  I turned the guide to terns and offered just a little of my opinions.  I was in the minority slightly at first.  I could tell that the birders that were convinced that it was indeed a Little Gull were getting a little uneasy and upset.  I then started to talk to the other birders that were there.  I recognized  one of the birders.  I began to discuss why I felt the bird was what it was and he began to see why I came to the conclusion that the bird was a Forster' Tern in winter plumage.  Another birder also agreed that it was indeed a Forster's Tern.  The couple that never would disclose their name to me left as the talk of the bird being a tern heated up.  Here is the bird that was causing all this confusion:

While I don't have a picture of a Little Gull, there was a Bonaparte's Gull nearby.  I told them that the Little Gull would be more similar to the Bonaparte's than to this bird.  This is the BONAPARTE'S that was nearby.

There are some "Jizz" differences here.  I often suggest to people that they just zoom out or just observe the bird through their binos only for a while.  The couple that insisted that the bird was a Little Gull was so stuck on minor details that they did not look at the overall bird.  The tail I remember was a sticking point.  They did not see the streamers that the bird would have in breeding plumage.  This alone would not be enough to make it not a tern.  White feathers contain no melanin, so they are weak.  This means that the feathers most likely are worn down by now, giving the bird a short tailed look.  

I do not know if the bird above (tern) is the bird the original birder misIDed or not.  I do not recognize the name.  

After everyone but me and one other birder left, things got real interesting.  I started just talking with the other birder when I noticed a long necked shorebird just beyond the gulls.  This little spot on the corner of the beach has been very productive in the past.  I told the other birder I was with that I think I see something of interest over there.  We decided to get a little closer and check it out.  I originally thought that the bird may be a Pectoral Sandpiper, but it just looked too big and long necked.  As we got closer, I said to him "that's an UPLAND SANDPIPER!"  That would be a life bird for me.  

We quickly noted that the bird had an injured wing, as it was dragging it.  The bird attempted to swim away like a duck would swim, but turned around and went into the deep vegetation.  We were able to get a few photos of the bird.  Very sad to see such a nice looking bird in such situation.  Just hope it stays away from the off leash dogs.

Here are the photos that I was able to obtain.  The bird was kinda of skittish, so we kept our distance.  Being injured, I didn't want to stress the bird anymore than it already was. 

When I got home, I checked the Birding Ohio Facebook Group and found that the local Wild Birds Unlimited store had received a call about an injured Upland Sandpiper in Bethel, Ohio.  This is very close to where this bird is.  I talked to the staff person who took the call, a birder friend, who told me that the bird was found in a yard yesterday and that the bird was sent to rehabbers.  Whether this is a different bird or not I do not know.  For now, I can only assume that it is not the same bird.  The bird headed deep into the vegetation, and despite my looking for it, I could not re-find it.  

A very strange tern of events indeed...

Update: This evening (Sept. 13th), I was at East Fork and Ginny Fantetti and Rob Edelen showed up. I have known Ginny for a while and know that she is familiar with rehabbing and the methods used from her work with Raptor, Inc. She came up with a plan and we successfully executed it in short order and the bird was caught without incident. The bird appeared to have a broken wing. It is now in the process of being turned over to the rehabber.  

Update #2 from Ginny Fantetti: "The sandpiper was delivered to Back to the Wild rehabilitation center in Castalia, OH yesterday (an all-day road trip). They have the resources and facilities to get proper care for it and will be able to keep it as a permanent educational display bird if it can't be released. I'm glad it didn't come to an ugly end at the hands of one of the many off-leash dogs or stray cats at the beach at East Fork."

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Glad the story came to a good ending.  Also glad it is over!

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