On July 27, Ray Duffy reported (and photographed) a leg-flagged Semipalmated Sandpiper at Mill Creek Marsh and reported it the USGS.

Last week he heard back from the USGS. Ray writes:

KE2, the banded Semipalmated Sandpiper, was banded on 4/5/2012 in Suriname in South America at in a lagoon near the Warappa  (LAT: 5.99139; LON: -54.91361).

The bird is thought to have been hatched in 2010 or before that.  Its gender is unknown.   Ironically, the bander was someone from Cape May, NJ.

(Thanks, Ray!)

In case you are wondering, Suriname is in northern South America, east of Venezuela, roughly 2,800 miles away. 

If this sounds a tad familiar… Chris Takacs had a similar sighting four years ago of a bird banded in French Guiana, which is right next to Suriname. Link is here.