I'm surprised that nobody updated the Saturday reports of the avocet yesterday. I was unable to, but in any case, the bird was still present on the north side of the bridge yesterday morning. Other shorebirds of interest were at least one Semipalmated Plover and a basic plumaged Black-bellied Plover, along with a dozen or so Short-billed Dowitchers. Shorebirds were also present on the mudflats south of the bridge; in fact, this is where the peeps were (Least Sandpipers only, so far as I could tell) with an additional dozen or so dowitchers. There were several Lesser Yellowlegs on both sides. When I left around 11:00 a.m., the avocet was visible from close range off of Creek Road, which parallels Big Creek on the east side. You can park off the road near a house with a green #3715 sign, and this is a good vantage point.
The conditions at this site bode well for outstanding shorebirding throughout the fall. I'm sure Dean Ware will find us some Buff-breasted Sandpipers there soon, and I would not be surpised if some post-breeding wanderers such as Glossy Ibis or Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, etc. turn up before too long. (Hey, it pays to be optimistic.) This site is just west of Malden Centre, near Holiday Beach, on old Hwy 18. Randy Horvath, Windsor [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Jul 18 21:40:39 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from m7.nyc.untd.com (m7.nyc.untd.com [64.136.22.70]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 0225F64BF5 for <[email protected]>; Mon, 18 Jul 2005 21:40:39 -0400 (EDT) Received: from m7.nyc.untd.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by m7.nyc.untd.com with SMTP id AABBP2Y4GAVC63S2 for <[email protected]> (sender <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>); Mon, 18 Jul 2005 18:45:42 -0700 (PDT) X-UNTD-OriginStamp: +I4zx4PQdguu3tHbbJmamrSdHuxg4VN9Kob0o2ufKS+mssncdd6H7w== Received: (from [EMAIL PROTECTED]) by m7.nyc.untd.com (jqueuemail) id KX83BY24; Mon, 18 Jul 2005 18:45:27 PDT To: [email protected] Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 21:43:49 -0400 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Mailer: Juno 4.0.11 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 4-5,9-10,16-27 X-Juno-Att: 0 X-Juno-RefParts: 0 From: Alan Wormington <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-ContentStamp: 6:3:724385456 X-MAIL-INFO: 49032b472f4e3e2f8f1f8fbf43bab7eb7ad74beeeaeae79eba9ee7d73f7a7f2f6fceee7f7e7b23d70a7b X-UNTD-Peer-Info: 127.0.0.1|localhost|m7.nyc.untd.com|[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Ontbirds].Curlew Sandpiper at Hillman Marsh X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 01:40:39 -0000 Tonight Dean Ware and myself found (first spotted by Dean) a Curlew Sandpiper at NW Hillman Marsh. The bird is in the west cell, NOT the shorebird cell which is now planted in corn. From the parking lot proceed east to the boardwalk, then continue to the footpath further east into the marsh and the cattail / sedge area. The neat thing about this bird is that it is a one-year-old in non-breeding plumage, technically Alternate I plumage. But even more interesting is that it is presumably the same bird that was present south of Detroit at Point Mouillee, Michigan, on July 11-12. Shorebirds do not roost overnight at Hillman Marsh, but each night at sunset they fly off to the west to some unknown location. The following morning they return, and sometimes the same individual birds return to the exact same feeding spot. It is probable that overnight roosting birds from both Hillman Marsh and Point Mouillee intermingle, thus the reason why the bird has now appeared at Hillman Marsh. Here are some actual photos of the bird from Point Mouillee: http://www.pbase.com/jourdaj/image/46125905 http://www.pbase.com/jourdaj/image/46125905 http://www.pbase.com/jourdaj/image/46125873 http://www.pbase.com/jourdaj/image/46125901 Alan Wormington, Leamington
