[wisb] 185 Whimbrels - Ozaukee County/Harrington Beach SP/Riveredge Bird Club field trip
- From: "Carl Schwartz" <cschwartz3@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Wisconsin Birding Network" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 22:14:21 -0500
Well, I guess I beat the other 11 of us back home to the computer and so I get
to be the first to post this:
With all due apologies to Dr. Charles Sontag, the Manitowoc impoundment has
just lost a bit of its luster for some of his frequent lakefront visitors and
Whimbrel-seekers.
Twelve giddy members of the Riveredge Bird Club watched 185 Whimbrels make
their way north tonight past Harrington Beach State Park along the shore of
Lake Michigan near the foot of Cr-D just north of the park's eastward-jutting
rocky point.
Our group was on the beach from 6:15 p.m. until dusk. Most of the birds passed
the beach in four flocks of 49, 69, 22 and 40 birds between 7 and 7:40 p.m. The
early flocks were 100-150 yards offshore, but spotting scopes made for a
confident ID. The later groups appeared to be in search of a place to land and
came within 30 yards of shore after circling the point. At about 7:50, two
individuals landed on the beach about 75-100 feet from us and mingled with a
flock of Ring-billed Gulls for about 10 minutes, allowing each of us the best
looks of our lives at this often elusive species. At 8 p.m. they called sharply
and took off, somehow alerted to the presence far offshore of three other
birds, and together the five continued their migration north.
Before sighting the first Whimbrels, we also had identified three Sanderlings
and four Marbled Godwits as they flew north, along with a late Red-breasted
Merganser.
The trip began among members of the club bemoaning the cruelty of fate that had
allowed 1,500 Whimbrels to land at Toft Point in Door County only hours after
we and other WSO conventioners had left. Some of us returned home via Manitowoc
where Dr. Sontag and his wife Marilyn had soothed our frustrations over another
Whimbrel-less pilgramage to Manitowoc with coffee, tea and delicious apple
cake. The Harrington Beach field trip (with 36 hours notice to club members via
email) was an off-the-wall idea to avoid the drive north to Manitowoc, have a
beachfront picnic and HOPE for Whimbrels.
Now everybody wants to know why we didn't try this years ago. And what else
could we add to the park's bird list if we did this beachfront watch more often
in the spring? (Neither Whimbrel or godwit are on the current park list.)
Carl Schwartz
Milwaukee County
Coordinator/Bird City Wisconsin
http://www.birdcitywisconsin.org
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- » [wisb] 185 Whimbrels - Ozaukee County/Harrington Beach SP/Riveredge Bird Club field trip - Carl Schwartz
