The yellowlegs are early migrants in spring and could have been on territory for 6-8 weeks already, and thus bred successfully and now on their way south. I would consider them authentic fall migrants, and that would probably be the case with other species that migrate north in April or early May (ie., right now is the expected time for the first southbound birds).
This being only late June, shorebirds that pass us in late May and early June could not have bred unless they went north much earlier than the others. Mid to late June might be too early even to expect failed breeders. Thus I assume these to be non-breeding one-year-old birds wandering north as part of spring migration but probably summering south of the breeding grounds. I think the recent White-rumps were in that category. The dowitcher is perhaps a question mark since there are possibly two species involved - too far out on Sunday to look for meaningful field marks and I could barely see the bill. Short-billed would seem the most likely for various reasons. Dave Wheeler Oswego County -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
