Saturday was pretty much a dud for me. I started the day up at Mount Peter Hawkwatch; when I arrived it was socked in with fog. I counted for 4 1/2 hours when a big storm rolled through and I left (with 0 migrating raptors counted). Hopefully this is not an indication of how this season will go for me.
This morning was much better – at my first stop I found a nice collection of shorebirds. The highlight was a couple of BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS. There was also a huge flock of American Golden-Plovers – probably between 40 and 50 birds. Additional species included Pectoral Sandpipers and, of course, plenty of Killdeer. Later at the Camel Farm, I had a couple of Wilson’s Snipe and a handful of Least Sandpipers. At the Liberty Loop platform, I had a single Semipalmated Sandpiper. And finally, at Winding Waters Trail, I had a Spotted Sandpiper and a Greater Yellowlegs. That’s a total of (9) species of shorebirds, not too shabby. And, in my travels, I found a pair of Sandhill Cranes in range for some photos.
As always, I took photos as I went; several of these were actually taken earlier this week, on Labor Day. Unfortunately all the shorebirds from today were just too distant for any good shots.
That was really cool watching the shorebirds at Skinner this morning! Great to see so much action in one spot!
Yeah it was a good morning. Good to see you and have someone to share it with. Matt