Scott Barnes and I were leading a field trip at Sandy Hook today, when we ran into a birder who said that Mike Fahay had an idea that the Golden Plover out at the north end might be a European. The bird was found at the north end of the "Hook" at the small pond just west of where the fishermen's trail meets the beach. Upon observating of the bird it did have European possibilities.

The field marks observered were light or white axillaries not gray or black, a distinctive wing stripe, and a small bill, while the back color was a very warm brown, not brownish-gray like typical American Golden Plover in basic plumage. The wings extended beyond the tail, eliminating Pacific Golden Plover. The bird also had a light supercillium. I have never seen a Golden Plover with a wing stripe this distinctive. The bird was seen in comparison with Baird's, White-rumped and Least sandpipers for size comparison and was considerably larger than all of them. Jack Mckee joined us and said he thought this bird might be European GP based on seeing all the above characteristics. None of us have any previous experience with a European Golden Plover. We studied the bird for about 15 minutes through a Leica 77mm. scope with a 32x eyepiece at about 30 yards.

Unfortunately, we witnessed the bird fly off low over the dune and south (east) down the beach. We were unable to relocate the bird again.

Subsequently, we ran into Mike Fahay, who said he had studied the bird and came to the conclusion with the white axillaries and wing stripe combined with the brown color this bird should be a European.

These sightings were around mid-day. The bird first appeared there yesterday.

Scott and I will submit a write-up for the committee.