This morning, despite the rain I spent some time breaking up and raking some Algae on the north west end of the pond. I think it looks much better there now and the next effort, would be on the south end all along the east side.
Despite my focus not being on birding, I kept a count of the shorebirds observed and I noted an increase in Short-billed Dowitchers *(253)*. Most of them looked quite thin suggesting new arrivals who were happily feeding. Additionally, year listers and twitchers would be happy to learn that I also had 1 *STILT SANDPIPER*. A quick scan on the east side showed more Semipalmated Plovers than was seen yesterday but Least and Semiplamated Sandpipers are very underrepresented to this point. I am not going to keep referencing this as I already made a point yesterday about the pond conditions and requirements. However, as a reminder the open flats are mostly on the south end while water is still above ankle and in some places higher on the north end. The recommendation has always been knee high boots to bird the East Pond but every season I observe sneaker heads venturing onto the pond. If you don't mind getting your sneakers soaked in East Pond mud and water then be my guest, otherwise get the proper gear or wait for the pond to have ample dry flats. Best, -- 風 Swift as the wind 林 Quiet as the forest 火 Conquer like the fire 山 Steady as the mountain Sun Tzu <http://refspace.com/quotes/Sun_Tzu> *The Art of War* <http://refspace.com/quotes/The_Art_of_War> (\__/) (= '.'=) (") _ (") Andrew Baksh www.birdingdude.blogspot.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
