Townsend Lagoons - Aug 9/04 Last night I birded the Townsend lagoons. Although the numbers are down from recent reports, there still were lots of bids there and the variety was excellent. Almost all of the birds were in adult plumage, but many were molting out of their breeding regalia into the more subdued winter plumages. The following are actual counts of birds, but as you can appreciate I might have missed one or two. Of interest was that, although there was some intermixing between species, there clearly was some associational [is that a word?] behaviour occurring, which I presume was due to food availability and water depth not social choices. Groups of Least Sandpipers were clearly separated from the Semi-palmated Sandpipers, and the Lesser Yellowlegs were closely associating with each other along the west side of the lagoon essentially separated from all other species except the phalarope. Here and there, particularly along the east side of the lagoon, intermixing was more evident. The Pectorals, Semi-palmated Plovers and Killdeer seemed to be more randomly distributed along the drier fringes of the lagoons.
Killdeer - 64 Semi-palmated Plover 20 Lesser Yellowlegs - 191 Solitary Sandpiper - 1 Spotted Sandpiper - 5 Least Sandpiper - 279 Semi-palmated Sandpiper - 199 Pectoral Sandpiper - 13 Stilt Sandpiper - 1 [high breeding plumage] Short-billed Sandpiper - 1 Red-necked Phalarope - 1 [transitional plumage] Of interest to me were the eleven Bobolinks frolicking [how poetic] along the banks of the western lagoon throughout. A visiting birder told me that the Cattle Egret was still present along King Road at the junction of Haldimand Rd 3, SE of Dunnville. Directions: From Hwy 6, south of Hagersville, and about a kilometre north of Jarvis, watch for a sign that says "Townsend" on your right and follow this paved road to the four-way stop. Turn left and follow it about 1.5 kilometers to Concession 14, the house with the kid's playhouse in the front yard with the A/C will be on the corner of this intersection. Follow it about a kilometre to the lagoon gates on your right. All the birds were in the first lagoon. Geoff Carpentier Ajax, Ontario
