Weekend Wrap Up, 10/2/16

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~A beautiful American Golden-Plover in the Black Dirt today, 10/2/16.~

I got out and did a fair amount of birding this weekend, especially because I didn’t count hawks at Mt. Peter Hawkwatch on Saturday, due to the fog and light rain that persisted throughout the day.

BLACK DIRT REGION: I received reports from Bruce Nott and Ken and Curt McDermott on Saturday that the collection of plovers in the black dirt continued. Curt and Ken had a very nice count of 41 American Golden-Plovers and 5 Black-bellied Plovers. On Sunday, I met Linda Scrima in the late morning. The plovers were present, but distant. We lingered, and eventually they flew in closer, with a couple even landing on the road. We had a total of 34 AMGPs and 3 BBPLs. The highlight, however, was when a Killdeer flew over being chased by another smaller bird. Linda picked it up and got me on the birds. I stayed on the smaller bird and when it landed, I was thrilled to see it was an AMERICAN PIPIT! We eventually saw 3 more for a total of 4 AMPIs. The pipits were my 204th species in Orange County this year.

WICKHAM WOODLANDS TOWN PARK: I birded here on Saturday morning so I could stay close to Mt. Peter, in case the weather cleared up. The highlight for me was a trio of Ruddy Ducks. I also had a nice look at a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Mockingbirds and Northern Flickers were present in numbers.

 

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~American Golden-Plovers in flight with one Killdeer. Black Dirt Region, 10/2/16.~
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~Yes! AMERICAN PIPIT in the Black Dirt, 10/2/16.~
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~A Killdeer takes a bath in a puddle in the road. Black Dirt, 10/2/16.~

6 1/2 STATION ROAD, CITGO POND: I made three trips to the pond this weekend and finally on Sunday I had some new shorebirds:

4 Pectoral Sandpipers (one new bird)
3 Lesser Yellowlegs (one new bird)
1 Greater Yellowlegs (new bird)
11 Least Sandpiper (same number)

On Friday evening I had a Northern Harrier fly over the pond and a Sharp-shinned Hawk as well. Both kinglets were present on the trail into the pond. On Saturday I also went over to the Heritage Trail side of the sanctuary, where I had many Yellow-rumped Warblers and a pair of Black-throated Green Warblers.

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~One of 4 Pectoral Sandpipers at Citgo Pond on Saturday 10/1/16.~
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~Swamp Sparrow on the Citgo Pond Trail, 10/1/16.~

HIGHLAND LAKES STATE PARK: I made it out here for early Sunday morning. The place was very birdy and I had 27 species plus one unidentified flycatcher in just over an hour. Yellow-rumped Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and White-throated Sparrows were all quite numerous. Again, I had a couple of Black-throated Green Warblers, but besides that, not many noteworthy birds.

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~Yellow-rumped Warbler on the Citgo Pond Trail, 10/1/16.~
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~Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Highland Lakes State Park, 10/2/16.~
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~Not a great photo, but I wanted to show the black wing-pits of one of the Black-bellied Plovers in the Black Dirt Region, 10/2/16. Also notice that the bird is slightly larger than the neighboring AMGPs.~

4 thoughts on “Weekend Wrap Up, 10/2/16”

  2. Great AGAIN, Matt!
    That shot of the underwing of the BBPL is sensational because not only does it show the black “armpit” but also the obvious light stripe on the underside of the primaries. Goldens don’t have that either.

    1. Thanks Ken – I did not know about the the light stripe on the underside of the primaries, thanks for pointing it out. Thanks for letting me know they were still around. Matt

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