Posted by Rock Jetty on November 06, 2003 at 19:22:19:
Yesterday, Nov. 5th, David LaPuma informed me of a good number of shorebirds present at the Hole-in-the-donut site at the end of research road (last and most recently scraped plot). He had birded the area before going in to work and spotted a good number of shorebirds but given the time constraints and poor views due to the weeds, he didn't have solid ID's. I arrived at the site at approx. 4 PM along with Albert "Snail Kite" Gonzalez and began observing several flocks of shorebirds flying in every direction, low and calling. Sometimes two to three separate flocks of about a dozen or two each would fly at once. Most of the birds were LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, with great flying views over our heads and then low, permitting us to see the white on their backs. I had never heard this species call before and although the birds were difficult to spot on the ground because of the vegetation, their low flying and calling was equally satisfying. Other species present were GREATER YELLOWLEGS and WILSON'S SNIPE. Both of these were also flying low and calling and the latter was seen in a flock of about nine, taking off as soon as a harrier flew by close. We're not positively sure if we also heard the short-billed species of dowitcher.
David had also mentioned some Dunlin-like birds but these weren't observed by either one of us. SAVANNAH SPARROWS were present all along the sides of the road and the birding day ended with a WHITE-TAILED KITE flying south, parallel to the road, as the sun was setting...WOW.
Cheers,
RJ
P.S. Nice to hear from you again Robin.