Hi all, This morning, between 9 and 10, Mary Beth Billerman and I headed down to West End to check shorebird numbers. With the cloudy and rainy conditions, there were no people on the island by the Coast Guard Station, and it was covered with shorebirds. We counted roughly 350 American Oystercatchers, mostly adults but with a good number of juveniles. In addition to the oystercatchers, there were good numbers of Black-bellied Plovers (140), Red Knots (75), and Semipalmated Sandpipers (80). Also surprising were the number of Western Willets, with at least 44 present. There were only 2 Eastern Willets among them that I noticed, both juveniles. While watching the shorebirds, a flock of 28 Stilt Sandpipers and 6 Lesser Yellowlegs dropped onto the mud briefly before many of the shorebirds took flight. Also roosting on the island were a number of Common Terns and a single adult GULL-BILLED TERN.
We made a brief check of the swale off of the West End 2 parking lot, but there were no shorebirds evident there. However, we did not spend the time looking for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper today, so it very well could have been present. Good Birding, Shawn Billerman -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
