Sue and I spent a few hours this morning birding West End, concentrating on shorebirds. Between the sandbar in the boat basin and the ponds between the Nature Center and WE2 we recorded seventeen species of shorebirds with nothing special to report. We did observe our first juvenile Stilt Sandpiper on the ponds and there were multiple Pectoral and White-rumped Sandpipers present. The highlight was a cooperative Sora feeding along the south side of the channel that connects the small eastern-most pond and the large, central pond. The bird was visible for over an hour, frequently retreating to the Phragmites if disturbed. We have always wondered why reports of this species from the ponds were so few when the habitat seemed ideal. This was our first observation of this species on the ponds and our first record for West End. A pleasant surprise was the lack of mosquitoes. However, the small dark biting flies were out in force - bring the bug juice.
Ken & Sue Feustel -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
