Hazel Sutton, a 13-year-old birder, made an 'exceptionally rare' find in Interior Alaska involving a species of sandpiper that typically migrates to areas along the state's northwestern coast, says science writer Ned Rozell.
Hazel Sutton, 13, pauses at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge at the end of her shift monitoring tree swallow nest-boxes.
“I thought it must be a red-necked stint,” the 13-year-old said recently on a break from her summer activity of monitoring swallow nests at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. “Actually, I was absolutely sure.” Later that evening, Hazel’s mother, Iris Sutton, drove her to Creamer’s Field, where Fairbanks’ most avid birders gathered at the end of their “Big Day,” a 24-hour period where people try to see and hear as many types of bird as they can. Hazel had executed her own Big Day with the help of her family.She shared her photo with the others, some groggy from staying up all night, who gathered in the gravel parking lot next to the white barn.
Red-necked stints would perhaps be overlooked by less passionate birders. They resemble other sandpipers — birds often seen running from the surf on the Pacific coast.The birds spend winters in New Zealand, the coast of Australia and the saltwater arc of the planet from Malaysia north to Korea. In springtime, they migrate northward to breed on the tundra of northeastern Russia, as well as St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, the Seward Peninsula, and the northwestern coast.
“She would spend hours playing with them when she was a little girl, and they all had names,” Iris Sutton said.
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