About 11 am today, Tanya Beyer and I viewed 8 American Golden Plover in the stubble field close to the junction of Alta and 302nd St, where a variety of shorebirds were reported recently by Steve Weston on August 29th. We observed them on the west side of Alta, where they had landed near a small puddle of water.
The first birds we noticed on our arrival included Killdeer, 3 Sandhill Cranes and 1 Buff-breasted Sandpiper. After a few minutes observation, we were excited to hear and see a small flock of large, mostly gray shorebirds fly in. However, as we sorted them out of the stubble, they bore most of the markings of A. Golden Plover, including the large curved white stripe from the forehead, down the neck onto the shoulder; dingy black underparts on some birds; gold-tinted plumage on backs, shoulders and crown. When the birds raised their wings, it appeared there was no black underneath. After long observation, there appeared to be a couple larger, paler individuals, which may have been Black-bellied Plovers. All birds remained in the back of the field, near the puddle. Laura Coble Cannon Falls ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
