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Posted by Angel & Mariel on 01:20:10 09/06/08
Yesterday afternoon we decided to stop at a field that had been scraped several months back. We have been looking at this site hoping for shorebirds, but with our luck lately we were not expecting much. We decided to check it out for the first time since we were close by. As soon as we arrived we found a group of Mottled Duck, and then noticed some Yellow Legs in the middle of the field. There are two separate fields in the area, one is a small rain fed pond that has a dirt mound in the middle and the other field is just south of that spot. The second spot is grassy on one side and the other half is sand and rock with a good amount of water around. The storms have been dropping lots of water in these fields, so we were expecting something to be around. We started by birding the first area which is filled with water. There we found Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs along with a Spotted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Little Blue Heron, Tri-colored Heron and a Osprey that tried to catch a meal without luck. Taking a second look at the birds before heading to the other side of the field reviled what may have been a White-rumped Sandpiper, the long
primaries were our first clue that this Sandpiper was different. Lots of Barn Swallow were present as well as
some Bank. Next we headed over to the other areas that consist of rock, sand, and a grassy field. We wish we had a scope available to be able to scope the whole field but unfortunately we were only able to positively ID the birds that were closer to us. A group of Gulls were hanging out on the far side of the field, we saw Laughing, Ring-billed and one other gull that was to far to ID . With a scan of the field we were able to add some more species for the day, Least Sandpiper were in good numbers as well as Killdeer here. We also spotted some Semi-palmated and Stilt Sandpiper as well. This spot is looking pretty good and the best part is that we don't have to drive a long distance to check it out. We don't know how long this place will be suitable for shorebirds but for now we will enjoy it.
Here is a list of what we saw:
Mottled Duck
Little Blue Heron
Tri-colored Heron
Great Egret
Osprey
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
Semi-palmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper (possible no scope to ID)
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
10 Shorebird species in 30-40 minutes, not bad for this site. The spot is off of the Pines Blvd. exit on I-75, after
you get off you make the first right which we believe is 145 ave. The first spot is next to a new shopping center
and the other spot is just south of the shopping center. There were good numbers of shorebird on this site, it needs
to be scoped to really find out what exactly is there.
Nature is Awesome
Angel & Mariel
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