Following my full coverage of the pond on Saturday. Today, I decided that I
would give it another crack with the hopes of less foot traffic. It worked out
well enough to get a decent snapshot of the birds on and around the pond. In
short, there seemed to be less shorebirds on the pond today than Saturday.
The 6 Phalaropes continued today on the pond with all of them favoring the
southend. The Wilson’s were spotted near shore and later in the southwest cove.
The 3 Red-necked Phalaropes were moving around a bit but also stayed on the
Southend.
The continuing Black-bellied Whistling-duck which sometimes goes missing, was
also in the southwest cove on the southend of the Pond. In that same area is a
continuing Greater Scaup and the rarer over summering Lesser Scaup. The latter
is the “ratty” looking one not to be confused with the Greater which is in much
better shape.
Since I am covering ducks, I should add that today, I had my first of the
season Northern Pintail (female). That along with Pied-billed Grebe, increased
numbers of Northern Shovelers (a few have been here for a week or more), Hooded
Merganser (female) seems to suggest that waterfowl are already on the move.
More about shorebirds: White-rumped Sandpiper numbers have increased the last
few days and hold steady. Today, it seemed you could not scan a small flock of
peeps without running into one.
Stilt Sandpiper numbers on the other hand nose dived. From Saturday to today,
the numbers have dropped significantly.
1 Long-billed Dowitcher continued up at the Northend today. Also, more juvenile
Short-billed Dowitchers were present today and it is expected that we will see
more in the coming weeks.
Juvenile Least Sandpipers are increasing nicely, with over 50 counted today.
Several juvenile spotted Sandpipers continue today along with a couple of adult
birds. Look for them near the Raunt on the west side of the Pond as they
frequent that area.
I have only seen 1 juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper so far, which was on
Saturday. I expect that will change soon as more juveniles show up. Two flagged
Semis were observed today and frustratingly, I was only able to read one.
Lesser Yellowlegs numbers have dropped with more juveniles around than adults.
Greater Yellowlegs are also down from a few weeks ago.
1 Pectoral seen today. A juvenile that quickly absconded once the Peregrines
came though on one of their many passes.
1 juvenile Eastern Willet was also seen at the Raunt today but that bird also
took off once the Peregrines began “strafing” the pond and I did not see it
again.
I did not see any Western Sandpipers today. I have only seen 1 thus far this
season and that was a few weeks ago.
Semipalmated Plovers are building, with quite a few adults around. I have not
seen any juveniles as yet.
Other notables on the pond include: 1 Sora, 1 adult Bald Eagle, 4 Gull-billed
Terns - we had as many as 9 on the pond a few weeks ago. Also a couple of
flyover Royal Terns.
The plethora of Bank Swallows continue along with a leucistic one which is neat
to see in flight. 1 Purple Martín early on at the southend and 1 oddly plumaged
peep.
The pond looks really good at the moment and even with the bit of rain it is
spot on for this time of the year. That last bit of clearing out of the outflow
valve last Thursday, should allow us to make our target with plenty of
Shorebird season left. I am very happy to see the juvenile shorebirds that are
imprinting the East Pond as a stopover site.
Plead keep in mind that COVID protocols are still in effect. Especially so with
the various mutations. Enjoy the birds but be safe while doing so!
Cheers,
--------
“Tenderness and Kindness are not signs of weakness and despair but
manifestations of strength and resolution” ~ Khalil Gibran
"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of
others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." ~ Frederick
Douglass
風 Swift as the wind
林 Quiet as the forest
火 Conquer like the fire
山 Steady as the mountain
Sun Tzu The Art of War
> (\__/)
> (= '.'=)
> (") _ (")
> Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device!
Andrew Baksh
www.birdingdude.blogspot.com
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