American golden plover in a Uintah county mud puddle

["L. D. Giddings" <seldom74 at xmission dot com>]

An American golden plover was seen in an oversized mud puddle (about 15'
x 20') immediately north of and adjacent to the Jones Hole road, about
24 miles east of east of Vernal and 0.25 miles west of the Brown Hole /
Crouse Reservoir road. The bird was seen at about 2:15 p.m. this
afternoon and watched from a distance of roughly 30-50' for about 15
minutes. This gave me ample opportunity to examine it carefully and to
ascertain that it was not a black-bellied, pacific golden, or eurasian
golden plover. It gave me a chance to put my new copy of "Shorebirds of
North America : The Photographic Guide" to good use, which I found it
most helpful, especially in combination with Sibleys. Since this
location is at an elevation of about 7500' it makes me wonder if perhaps
I should spend more time searching for shorebirds in ephemeral mountain
mud puddles and less time out on the causeway. ;-)

Lu Giddings


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