Thanks Mark and Jay for posting after my phone calls. There were in total 7
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS in the newly-harvested potato fields along Rt 31 in the
Mucklands. Five of them were adults in various stages of molt and two were
freshly-minted juveniles. They were between 100 and 200 feet south from the
road. At one point they all took flight and flew around for a good 10 minutes
before finally settling back onto the field they started from.
About two hours before that I walked out to the south pond at the Montezuma
Audubon Center, an area now dubbed Sandpiper Shallows, to look for the
reported golden plover. As I arrived a Merlin swooped in and scattered a small
number of peeps and several Killdeer. The remaining yellowlegs and plover
simply hunkered down and scowled at the Merlin. On close examination, and after
finally seeing it fly, I was able to say that the plover was a juvenile
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. White tail, cap no darker than the neck. There may well
have been a golden plover there yesterday afternoon, but it was gone today.
Bob McGuire
46 Whitted Road, Ithaca
256 0460
b...@lightlink.com
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