There was a pretty good "fallout" of shorebirds at the flooded field
on the Nazarene Church Road near Briery Branch yesterday. I
stopped by around 5:00 PM and found over 160 yellowlegs of
various denominations. I didn't try to sort them out. Before there
were so many the ratio seemed to be around 4:1 in favor of the
Greater. Amidst these yellowlegs there were also 3 Short-billed
Dowitchers in breeding plumage. Really nice reddish color which I
don't get to see very often. The orangish-red seemed to extend
the whole down the side and abdomen to the undertail coverts
suggesting that they were of the ssp hendersoni. There were also
3 Semipalmated Plovers, several Killdeer, one or two Solitary
Sandpipers, about 10 Least Sandpipers, and four Pectoral
Sandpipers. I didn't have time to closely survey the flock. There
could have been more "accidentals" mixed in. Most of the birds
were congregated on the west side of the field toward the other
road (not the Nazarene Church Road side).
Clair Mellinger
Biology Department
Eastern Mennonite University
Harrisonburg VA 22802
(540) 432-4409 Fax: (540) 432-4488
mellinac@xxxxxxx
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