Image of Dunlin

Description:

I'll start by saying I only have experience with two Curlew Sandpipers, both in the U.S. (Texas) where they are very rare, and these observations were back in 1984 and 1989 so it has been a while. I am very familiar with Dunlins of all ages over years of experience. I do not have a scope on this Ireland trip, but through binocs I felt this bird looked like a Curlew Sandpiper and I believe that is the correct ID. Image 1 shows a drastic crop of bird. Image 2 shows a big crop, but not as much as image 1 and image 3 shows the scene with the suspect bird in the approx center as seen through a 500mm lens with a 1.3X crop in the camera so equivalent to 650 mm. In other words...the bird was a ways off! If anyone thinks I am incorrect in the ID, please let me know. Curlew Sandpiper is an expected migrant here. The other birds in image 3 are mainly Black-headed Gulls and Common Redshanks.