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Posted by Toe on 17:43:19 08/15/10
Brian and I headed to the sod farms early this morning for a shorebird fix. We found only one halfway decent field along 27, a little north of the radio tower, but all we found there were Black-necked Stilts and Killdeer. We took 827A to Belled Glade then 880 east and found the first good fields on Brown's Farm Road by taking the first bridge left. There were good numbers of birds, especially Yellowlegs and Stilt Sandpipers. We checked farther down Brown's Farm Road but didn't see any adequate fields. After heading back onto 880, we checked the first sod field to the right and found 20 Upland Sandpipers. Another sod field just down 880 had another 16. That's 36 Upland Sandpipers in just two fields, very nice!
We then found another wet field along Gladeview Road about a couple of miles south, and another down a road a little farther east that has a sign for "Muck Sod" by driving down another couple miles . In this last field we found our only Avocets for the day, with at least a dozen. We checked out several dry fields for other grasspipers but came up empty. Although the numbers aren't as high as other years, there were good numbers of some species. We ended up with 18 species of shorebirds, plus a few other birds, including big numbers of both Whistling Ducks.
Our list:
Shorebirds-
Black-bellied Plover (~20)
Semipalmated Plover (~25)
Killdeer (~50)
Black-necked Stilt (100's)
American Avocet (12)
Spotted Sandpiper (4)
Greater Yellowlegs (~200)
Willet (1)
Lesser Yellowlegs (~500-1000+)
Upland Sandpiper (36)
Ruddy Turnstone (~5)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (<20, but we didn't really count)
Western Sandpiper (ditto)
Least Sandpiper (100's)
Pectoral Sandpiper (dozens, not as many as other years)
Stilt Sandpiper (~300+)
Short-billed Dowitcher (~30)
Long-billed Dowitcher (3 confirmed by call, others probable)
Others:
Black-bellied Whistling Duck (~50+, with chicks)
Fulvous Whistling Duck (~25, with chicks)
Gull-billed Tern (~20)
Black Tern (~75)
Yellow Warbler (2)
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