I was not officially a leader of the shorebird walk at Knox-Marsellus marsh on Saturday morning. But co-leaders Steve & Linda Benedict said they were glad I was there to help with shorebird IDs. I in turn was glad Bob McGuire, Jay McGowan, Matt Medler, Leona Lauster and others were among the 35 or so participants. The rain which had been approaching according to radar either dissipated or veered off and missed us. The cloudy weather for much of the morning made for pleasant temperatures and lighting, but the sun blasted through as we walked around Puddler. Although the goodies which Ann Mitchell & I found last Tuesday seemed to have moved on (Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope, and a continuing Red-necked Phalarope), shorebird diversity was even higher this week (16 species) than on last week's field trip.
The most exciting bird for me was an Upland Sandpiper which flew around and alit on K-M mud closer and for longer than this rarity did last week. It (or its buddy, there were apparently 2) was also distantly visible on Puddler mud later on. Another rarity was a transitional plumage American Golden-Plover, apparently alone in distant low grass/weeds of K-M. There were lots of opportunities to study other species, and at one point I had 9 or 10 shorebird species in a single well-lit, close-range scope view. Here's the total K-M shorebird list: Black-bellied Plover - 1 nearly breeding plumage found after many birders had left American Golden-Plover - transitional adult Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Upland Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper - juvenile and winter adult Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher - juveniles Long-billed Dowitcher - 1 adult winter plumage Also from the Wildlife Driver: Wilson's Snipe Here's Jay's & Matt's very thorough eBird list: Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24632009 Among non-shorebirds one of my favorites was a boldly patterned juvenile Bonaparte's Gull which flew past us. --Dave Nutter -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
