Bob Friedrichs, aided by Brian Berry, has done a laudable job in surveying
and reporting the outcomes regarding the Buff-breasted Sandpipers (and
other species) in the sod fields of several areas. Bob poses in his
TEXBIRDS posting some excellent questions in regard to what kinds of
habitat are preferred by Buff-breasted Sandpipers during, in this case,
fall migration. Definitive answers to those important questions might be
useful in any effort to help protect this species, which would seem to be
threatened by a decline in the number of sod fields in existence. I do not
have anything resembling definitive answers, but, having been an observer
of this species for decades now, both in New York State and in Texas, I can
offer some observations, albeit not observations based on systematic study.
I would add the caveat that the many of these observations were in New
York, where the fall migration of Buff-breasted Sandpipers consisted almost
exclusively of juveniles, which might make a difference to preference for
foraging sites, especially as we know that such youngsters are about to
head out over the Atlantic Ocean on a very long journey to South America.
Having voiced that caveat, though, we must also recognize that all fall
migrants of these species are preparing themselves for additional very long
travel, right on to South America, albeit by a different route than those
in the USA northeast during the fall, and probably not over so much open
water.
My observations of Buff-breasted Sandpipers while I was in New York State
were largely on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island, where sod fields are
far more abundant (and close to one another) than one finds in South Texas,
the site of my observations of the last 7.5 years. In New York I quite
often found sod fields adjacent to or very near one another but one was
being visited by Buff-breasted Sandpipers, and, often, other avian migrants
who favor sod fields (e.g., American Golden-Plover and Upland Sandpipers),
and the other by not a single "grasspiper." That happened year after year.
There often was a very visible difference, though, between those sod
fields. One of them would have grass of moderate height height and, often
of varied height; other was cleanly mowed and looked very neat and spiffy,
indeed. We observed this difference in a variety of locales on Long Island.
The grasspipers preferred fields with grass that had grown up a bit in a
field where grass height varied, presumably at somewhat different stages of
growth, and were fields that provided some cover, except from directly
overhead, for the birds foraging there. (We have serious doubts that these
birds liked fields with very tall grass. Although you could not often have
seen them from the road in such a field, their absence also seemed signaled
by the fact that we not recall ever having seen grasspipers flying into or
out of such a field.) We summarized these observations in our own heads by
concluding that buffies and those often found with them simply do not like
"manicured" fields. I cannot be sure that I never have seen any grasspipers
in such a field, but I can say that it must have been a surprise to see
such a thing.
I have had similar impressions during my shorter years down here of
observing this species. Also, I can say with certainty that, in my
experience, the grasspipers, including "buffies," do not spend much, if
any, time in fields where the substrate, including the grass, clearly is
dry and/or very near it. I occasionally do see some in dry or nearly dry
fields, when nothing better is around, but they obviously are having
trouble finding food and seem restless, often watching the sky for
potential predators while they are there. They seem rarely to stay long in
such a place if there are better options nearby. In fact, buffies seemly
like to forage in areas that have either some shallow standing water at
places or have, at least, been recently watered--although they are NOT a
species that tends to forage while wading. By the way, fields that still
hold or have recently held water are likely to have a substrate that is
somewhat uneven, leaving low places where water will tend readily to
accumulate and thus will be more likely still to be standing or, at least,
to have places where it was present longer. I would suppose that this
species' food supply, which usually is considered to consist largely of
invertebrates (e.g., insects and spiders), along with some seed, would be
more easily found in such relatively wet/damp settings. Thus, to find this
species, one should look for such places, including places with uneven
substrate, which often hide some shallow water not visible from the human
observer's location. That more lush vegetation also may make invisible
these birds themselves for some time, but vigilance by birders usually will
disclose their presence.
It must be said, though, that the ultimate consideration is getting food
and water for the long journey wherever those resources might be found. A
few years ago, in the midst of a long-enduring drought in South Texas, I
observed multiple Buff-breasted Sandpipers, along with a few Baird's
Sandpipers and Least Sandpipers, desperately foraging in a recently plowed
end-of-furrow area in otherwise not recently plowed field that was
frightfully dry and that apparently offered nothing at all. It was
gratifying to see the "buffies" and the other sandpipers foraging there
side-by-side without any sign of inter-species hostility or hostile
competition. No vegetation was in sight, just freshly overturned and
relatively most soil, from whence food items could be seen and extracted.
I was pleased to get photos of that gratifying non-hostile inter-species
scenario. I was a bit surprised, I must admit, and very appreciative. It
left me pondering how good it would be if we humans could emulate such
sharing even in the face of difficulty.
My own strong inclination is to think that because these species
desperately need to have plenty of food at hand to fatten up for the
body-wasting parts of their migrational travels over water where food and
safe-to-drink water simply are unavailable, food and water would be their
highest priority. Also, agricultural fields that supply edible goodies
often would--as suggested by earlier discussion--be of a type that would,
due to active vegetative growth, also supply better visual cover against
predators. Buff-breasted Sandpipers seem to spend lots of time, as also
noted earlier, watching the sky when they are in areas that offer little
food.
Others may have supplementary or even contrary observations. If so, I hope
we might learn of them to obtain a more rounded picture from those
experienced with this species and those with whom they quite often forage.
-- Rex Stanford (Weslaco).
On Sat, Aug 1, 2015 at 3:49 PM, Bird.fried <bird.fried@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
After finding 115 Buff-breasted Sandpipers at the Saha Sod Farm yesterday
afternoon, I decided to do a more thorough survey of the Matagorda County
sod farms. So, after we finished at the Formosa Tejano Wetland this
morning, Brian Berry and I hit 6 sod farms with the following results.
1.). CR 453 = Francintas Rd sod farm (Jackson County): 31 Buff-breasted
Sandpipers
2.). CR 436 = Morris Rd sod farm (Matagorda County): 47 Buff-breasted
Sandpipers / 2 Pectoral Sandpipers / 1 Upland Sandpiper .... all birds in
the same frame at one point.
3.) Zemanek Rd sod farm ( Matagorda County): 6 Upland
Sandpipers
4.) CR 454 = Graff Rd (Matagorda County): 0
grasspipers
5.) Saha Sod Farm on Bieri Rd (Matagorda County). 114
Buff-breasted Sandpipers / 2 Pectoral Sandpipers / 5 Upland Sandpipers / 15
Western Sandpipers / 5 Least Sandpipers / 1 Peregrine Falcon (eating a peep)
6.) Hanson Sod Farm on S Citrus Rd (Matagorda County) 15 Buff-breasted
Sandpipers
I'll pin all of these locations in eBird for those interested in more
information.
In addition to the sod farms, we also stopped to 'glass' 3 disced fields
and drove by numerous stubble fields. We did see a group of 6 Upland
Sandpiper flying low over one of the stubble fields but all other
grasspipers that we found were on the sod. Note that due to other
commitments we were unable to check the Triangle Sod Farm in Matagorda
County or the 4-5 sod farms on Wharton County. These have been good for
grasspipers from time to time. Also note that this morning, Brent Ortego
had 17 BBSA and 11 UPSA at the sod farm near Docasta in Victoria County.
Some takeaways are that:
-> There are already fairly large numbers of BBSA in Matagorda County at
this early date; 207 birds on this morning. (eBird is definitely not very
happy with me.). And there is a good showing in Victoria County today as
well. Is this normal to have so many birds this early? Do we know? Did
the BBSA have a poor breeding season so more birds are returning earlier
than usual?
-> All of the BBSA that we found today were on sod farms. Do they really
prefer this habitat, at least in the fall, to other available habitats?
Or, are they just easier to see/find on the sod?
-> Not all sod farms are created equal. The birds were on some fields
but totally absent from others. What is the difference? Obviously food
and safety, but why, how? Or is it really just all about the food since
the field with the most birds was also the only one with a Peregrine?
Lots of questions here. Regardless, it was a good morning with great
views of the grasspiper trifecta of Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Upland
Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper.
Good birding,
Bob Friedrichs
Palacios
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