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Posted by Toe on 21:14:02 08/07/10
I wanted to go to the sod farms today, but I had promised the family we'd go to the beach, so I went south this morning instead. I met up with Bill Boeringer in the vicinity of 217th Ave and the main park road before sunrise. After getting Black-bellied Plovers to the north of the main road, and some Killdeer on the south side, we went to the spot where I had the Uppies two days ago. At first we only saw good numbers of Pectoral and a couple of Least Sandpipers, but shortly Bill spotted a motionless Upland Sandpiper far to the south. We contemplated driving down to get a closer look, but my experience with the soft soil helped to convince us not to go further.
From there, we went to the puddles just before the Annex, where we added both Yellowlegs, Solitary, Spotted, and Stilt Sandpipers, and a Semipalmated Plover. We searched for migrant songbirds along the Annex, but only managed a Parula, Prairie, Redstart, an Eastern Kingbird, some Gnatcatchers, and W-E Vireos.
We both had to be back early, so the only other spot we tried was Cutler Wetlands, where we added Black-necked Stilt, Semipalmated Sanpiper, and Western Sandpiper to the list. We also saw two more Solitary, some Least Sandpipers, and both Yellowlegs. Bill headed out, but I went into the apartment complex and from there spotted 5 Dowitchers, which if are the same ones seen in recent weeks are Short-billed.
I spent the afternoon at Crandon Beach with the family. The combination of high tide and many beachgoers combined to produce no shorebirds at first. However, late in the afternoon the people thinned-out and 8 Piping Plovers, a few Sanderlings, and a Ruddy Turnstone showed up as additions to my day's list. A lone Semipalmated Plover made a brief appearance. In all, I managed 18 shorebird species, so my next goal will be 20 in one day in the county.
The day's list:
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Upland Sandpipers
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Dowitcher sp. (probable Short-billed)
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