Early this afternoon there was a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER foraging on the edge of the southern large puddle at the Burgess Rd. X Lower Lake Rd. eBird hotspot in the town of Somerset. This puddle is best viewed from Burgess Rd looking west. There was also a large flock of peeps dominated by Semipalmated Sandpipers along with a handful of Semipalmated Plovers and Least Sandpipers. The flock eventually flushed and I did not see it land again after waiting about 20 minutes. Some of the flock may have gone to the large puddle on the north side of Lower Lake Rd., but I could not re-find the Buff-breasted Sandpiper there. As Willie D’Anna has mentioned in previous posts, visibility is better here now since the fields have been plowed; however, heat waves were making viewing quite difficult in the afternoon sun. My eBird list with horrible/distant photos of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper can be viewed here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38798494 <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38798494> I later went to the Ellicott Rd. eBird hotspot in the town of Hartland, located about 0.45 miles west of Checkered Tavern Rd. This flooded field held 9 species of shorebirds highlighted by two WILSON’S PHALAROPES putting on a good show as they were actively foraging. My eBird list with photos of the phalaropes can be found here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38801030 <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38801030> Best, Joel Strong Appleton, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
