The puddles on Hulbert Rd got a reinforcing shot of rain this afternoon, which should keep them viable for a little while longer, at least. This evening, Betsy and I had 9 species of shorebirds with BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER being a new addition. Here is our list:
Killdeer many Black-bellied Plover 1 Semi. Plover 3 Greater Yellowlegs 2 Lesser Yellowlegs 1 Pectoral Sandpiper 6 Short-billed Dowitcher 4-5 Semi. Sandpiper 25 Least Sandpiper 10 These birds can be very difficult to find when they are foraging in the soybeans, as opposed to the open water. The dowitchers seem to hide particularly well. All the birds were in adult plumage, except perhaps for the Black-bellied, which may have been a second-year bird. There were also a number of Horned Larks here, including some juveniles. Purple Martins and other swallows were heard and/or seen overhead. DIRECTIONS TO THE SITE: Hulbert Rd is a short road that runs between Rt 18 (Lake Rd) and Youngstown-Wilson Rd in the Town of Wilson, Niagara County. With all the rain recently, there are a number of puddles along Hulbert Rd but it is the larger puddles that are about 1/4 mile north of Youngstown-Wilson Rd that had most of the birds (the west side of the road). Many of the birds were in the soy beans around the wet spots. Courtesy of Jim Osterlund, here are the Google coordinates for the site: http://tinyurl.com/mzpd3k Good birding! Willie ---------- Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY dannapotterATroadrunner.com http://www.betsypottersart.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Temporary archive: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
