This is my first Stilt Sandpiper for Duxbury Beach. I found it while scoping a large number of migrants at the boathole. At high tide the birds get crowded together and the species mingle. While scoping the busy mass can take time and prove frustrating, every once in awhile something appears as you pan your lens that evokes a doubletake.. and then a wow! Such was the case with this bird. I glided right past it at first and then something in my brain said whoa...

My first impressions were that the head markings resembled a Dowitcher in basic plumage but the head was a lot smaller. The legs looked long and thin like one of the Yellowlegs but the bird wasn't even as tall as a Lesser. Its bill, compared to the Dowitcher,is thinner and shorter but not like a yellowlegs either. And of course it is much smaller than those species. My first Stilt Sandpiper in Massachusetts!