[wisb] Shorebirds at Horicon Marsh,Dodge/Fond du Lac counties

From: "Tom Wood" <tcwood729@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <Wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:58:22 -0500
When I arrived at Horicon Marsh, STH49, just east of the pumphouse at
approximately 9:00 A.M. I thought it was going to be a dull day.
Green-winged teal were plentiful and there were two Killdeer and a few other
common waterfowl, but the big numbers of shorebirds were nowhere to be
found.
As I was going to pull away, a shorebird landed near my car about 20 yards
away. It was a very frantic Buff-breasted Sandpiper! The previous late
date for this species is 10/4 (1996). Unlike others of it's species who
usually methodically graze while feeding, this bird touched down for less
than a minute
at each spot it hit, then flew to another spot, picking briefly and then
moving on. I watched it for about 10 minutes, decided I better write down
some notes,
and when I looked up it had left the area.
If that wasn't exciting enough, when I decided I better look a little
closer, I saw two larger shorebirds with long bills about 120 yards out.
Good, I thought, at least a couple dowitchers are still around. As I focused
my scope, I thought, wait-dowitchers don't have bi-colored red and black
bills! Two juvenile Hudsonian Godwits. There are only two other records
beyond 10/28 (1996).
Soon Dunlin began assembling, and out of the corner of my eye I detected
something happening on the Fond du Lac County side of  STH49. Two peregrines
were cruising from east to west raising several flocks of shorebirds. I
realized I was seeing only a fraction of what was out there and all I could
pick out of the
flying flocks were Black-bellied Plovers. I started searching through the
cattail stubble north of STH49 and picked out only a few of the many
shorebirds I had
seen. Around 1:00 P.M. the rain started to fall and shorebirds began
repopulating the mudflats east of the pumphouse. I had made commitments to
my
grandchildren, so priorities trumped shorebirding. I did make a quick scan
of the newly arrived flocks and found nothing highly unusual.
Estimated species totals:
Black-bellied Plovers-15
Killdeer-6
Greater Yellowlegs-4
Dowitcher (sp)-101
Stilt Sandpiper-4 (only seven records beyond 10/21)
Dunlin-85
Wilson's Snipe-1
Semi-palmated Sandpipers-4
Hudsonian Godwit-2
Buff-breasted Sandpiper-1

Thomas C. Wood, Menomonee Falls, Waukesha County

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[wisb] Shorebirds at Horicon Marsh,Dodge/Fond du Lac counties

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