Some interesting birds from Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, MA - 18 August 2002

Digiscoped images by Blair Nikula (© 2002). Click on the thumbnails for a full-sized image

An American Avocet feeding with Greater Yellowlegs on the rising tide in Nauset Bay (below the Coast Guard Beach parking lot)
   

An albinistic/leucistic sandpiper roosting on Coast Guard Beach. I initially assumed this to be a Semipalmated Sandpiper, but upon looking at the images I realized the bill structure is suggestive of Western Sandpiper (though on the short side). However, I spent a lot of time looking over the 2,500+ peep present in the area and could not find a single Western. The chances that the only Western on the beach was this abnormal individual seem exceedingly small, so I'll just call it a peep species.
           

There must be something in the water at Coast Guard Beach, because not far from the pale sandpiper was this abnormally pale Semipalmated Plover. I can't recall ever seeing a SEPL like this before.