Greetings All:
Five hours in Lynn County today did what ten hours in Crosby County
yesterday could not do to me: it whupped me.
The key difference was rain. Some kind of magical storm system has set up
today such that almost all of Lynn County was getting some form of rain all
morning while Lubbock County, just to the north is just overcast. After
five hours of wandering from slowly filling playa to slowly filling playa
... I had had my fill of trying to find birds, much less take photographs
in the slop.
The saddest part for me: there is a major movement of swallows that I
couldn't do a thing about. Every playa had swallows over it but most were,
in the rain, unidentifiable blurs.
I did find some good stuff, though, including 1 Canada Goose at O'Donnell
Playa, 20 Blue-winged Teals at FM 1054 x CR 28 Playa, 4 Blue-winged Teals
at FM 1054 x FM 1313 Playa, 7 Blue-winged Teals at the FM 2956 Playa, 2
Blue-winged Teals in Grassland, 4 Blue-winged Teals at O'Donnell Playa, 24
Blue-winged Teals at Skeen Playa, 8 Cinnamon Teals at FM 1054 x CR 28
Playa, 6 Cinnamon Teals at the FM 2956 Playa, 5 Cinnamon Teals at Skeen
Playa, 10 Canvasbacks at FM 1054 x FM 1313 Playa, 2 Redheads at FM 1054 x
FM 1313 Playa, 4 Redheads at the FM 2956 Playa, 2 Redheads at the FM 3332 x
Sam Road Playa, 18 Redheads at Skeen Playa, 3 Eared Grebes at FM 1054 x CR
28 Playa, 6 Eared Grebes at Skeen Playa, 4 Black-necked Stilts at Little
Skeen Playa, 2 Black-necked Stilts at O'Donnell Playa, 2 American Avocets
at the FM 2956 Playa, 34 American Avocets at O'Donnell Playa, 56 American
Avocets south of Tahoka, 4 Snowy Plovers south of Tahoka, 2 Stilt
Sandpipers at Little Skeen Playa, 8 Baird's Sandpipers at Little Skeen
Playa, 34 Least Sandpipers at Little Skeen Playa, 6 Least Sandpipers at
O'Donnell Playa, *2 Pectoral Sandpipers* at O'Donnell Playa, *1 Pectoral
Sandpiper* at Little Skeen Playa, 7 Western Sandpipers at Little Skeen
Playa, 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers at Little Skeen Playa, 36 Long-billed
Dowitchers at Little Skeen Playa, 8 Long-billed Dowitchers at O'Donnell
Playa, 8 Long-billed Dowitchers at Skeen Playa, 1 Wilson's Snipe at Little
Skeen Playa, 2 Greater Yellowlegs at Little Skeen Playa, 6 Lesser
Yellowlegs at Little Skeen Playa, *5 American White Pelicans* at Skeen
Playa, 2 White-faced Ibises at the FM 2956 Playa, 1 White-faced Ibis in
Grassland, 1 Say's Phoebe in Grassland, 2 Tree Swallows at the FM 2956
Playa, 6 Northern Rough-winged Swallows at the FM 2956 Playa, 5 Cliff
Swallows at the FM 2956 Playa, 2 Marsh Wrens at the FM 2956 Playa, and 2
Chipping Sparrows, in Grassland.
One set of incidental Lubbock County highlights: 3 Cackling Geese, 2 Wood
Ducks, 1 Great Egret, and 1 Cattle Egret at Leroy Elmore Park in Lubbock -
no sign of the Neotropic Cormorant.
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
