Hey, Peter & all. Hannah Floyd and I were at Little Gaynor Lake, Boulder County, at 10:10 am this Sat. morning, Sept. 12, and we also saw Peter Ruprecht's *pectoral sandpipers,* 3 for sure. A 4th bird, somewhat more distant, was perhaps a stilt sandpiper. Not sure about that, though. Another *Calidris* was a puzzle; will look at photos a bit later. Along with the *least sandpipers,* there were some *Baird sandpipers.*
Viewing at Gaynor isn't ideal. The lake is bigger than it looks, and the glare is strong out there. I suspect the hour right after sunrise might be best. The lake has had nice shorebirds for more than two months now. Suboptimal viewing, but optimal shorebird habitat. The smell and the insects do not bother us. We revel in those things. Earlier in the morning, over at Lagerman Reservoir, also in Boulder County, Hannah and I, with Elena Klaver, saw 6 *red-necked phalaropes* and, for anybody who's keeping count, 277 *American wigeons.* Dainty sulphurs, *Nathalis iole*, were prolific. A cool thing about the phalaropes is that they were gratifyingly vocal: *tik..tok...* And out at Greenlee Preserve, eastern Boulder County, the hummerfest continues to rage on. Has anyone ever wondered why we don't say CALLY-ope and fuh-LAIR-uh-pee? Hm? Ted Floyd Lafayette, Boulder County On Saturday, September 12, 2020 at 3:44:25 PM UTC-6 Peter Ruprecht wrote: > Cobirds, > > I stopped by Little Gaynor Lake this morning, where there are now buggy > and sloppy (and smelly) mud flats. Due to heat waves visibility was not > optimal, but it was fairly easy to see a loose group of 15 or so Calidris > sandpipers. I think most were Least, but there were 4 similar-plumaged > ones towering over them, which I'm pretty sure were Pectoral. eBird > flagged them so I thought I'd let you all know in case someone wants to try > to confirm. Also, plenty of killdeer. Plus about 20 teal and shovelers in > the shallow water and assorted larger dabblers out in deeper water. > > Anyway, all that mud has got to be attractive to other migrating > shorebirds so Little Gaynor may be worth a look during the next couple of > weeks. > > Peter Ruprecht > Superior, CO > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/0ac5b158-e3ec-440d-b9b7-8c7732547e73n%40googlegroups.com.
