WASHINGTON, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – A species of bird native to the Siberian tundra has made a rare appearance in California, drawing admiring crowds 30-40 deep from across the western United States, the local news website ImperialBeachPatch.com has reported.
The Lesser Sand Plover was spotted in Imperial Beach in San Diego County Friday and remained in the area Wednesday, Joseph Morlan, chair of the California Bird Records Committee told RIA Novosti. It is the first known visit of the plover to the area and only the third time it’s been spotted in Southern California.
Matt Sadowski, a bird surveyor for the US Fish and Wildlife Service was reported by the Patch as saying the bird was either lost or had been blown off course. Usually it would be in the air between Southeast Asia and Australia at this time of year.
"I've seen people looking at this bird that have come from Colorado and New Mexico," Guy McCaskie of the Califronia Birds Record Committee told the Patch. "People will come from a long distance to see a bird of this quality."
