Sod Farms- No Ruff, but 17 species of shorebirds

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Posted by Trey Mitchell on 22:17:40 09/02/06

Rock Jetty and I went back up to the sod farms looking for the Ruff that was
seen last weekend. We first stopped at the "Cedar Stand" no cedars but we got
some good looks at 4 Barn Owls and a pair of Yellow Warblers. Just as we were
leaving Rock had some tough luck and was attacked by Fire ants and just after he
stripped and shook the ants of himself and his clothes he was stung by a wasp. I
would have been really funny if he wasn't in so much pain.

So, let this be a lesson to all. Watch were you are standing....

We then headed over to the fields where the Ruff was spotted last week.
Everything was different, fields that were perfect last week were flooded this.
We found shore birds everywhere but no good concentrations where we could sit
and scope for a while. We continued driving around seeing a little here and
there. We also went to the "Pine Stand" and saw no pines nor Ruff at location
where Toe saw the Ruff last Sunday.

A huge thunderstorm was about to let it's fury loose just as we came upon a
field with well over a 100 Fulovus and Black-bellied Ducks. At the same location
we found 50+ Wood Storks and a couple of Spoonbills. (Brown's Farm Rd. near the
Pump Station)

We went into town for lunch and to wait for the storm to pass.

We continued looking for fields suitable for Ruffs, but never found one. Oh
well, in the pursuit of the Ruff we accumulated a fairly large list of
shorebirds for the day.

Dowitcher Sp. (Long-billed for sure)

Least Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Stilt Sandpiper

White-rumped Sandpiper

Solitary Sandpiper

Willet

Black-necked Stilt

Pectoral Sandpiper

Black-bellied Sandpiper

American Golden Plover

Greater Yellow Legs

Lesser Yellow Legs

Killdeer

Upland Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone

Wilson's Phalarope (Probable, we saw 3 doing their dance from far away. Plumage
appeared correct for a Juvenile)

Also:

Black Tern

Least Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Black Skimmer

Northern Harrier

Barn Owl

Yellow Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Fulovus Whistling Duck

Black-Bellied Whistling Duck

Blue-wing Teal

Mottled Duck

and lots of herons and egrets.