Big Sandy area, Henry County 9/24/15
This morning at the jobsite close to the Town of Big Sandy, Adam Beachy and I
counted 265 Broad-winged Hawks high overhead, coming from Henry County and
headed South into Benton.
We'd been working in the area for several days now, and I was hoping for some
time off to check out some of the local hotspots.
Finally this evening we got off early enough to go check out the Big Sandy
mudflats.
Along the walk in we had a few warblers, including our FOS Yellow-rumped,
Chestnut-sided, and Black-throated Green.
Also FOS Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
Getting out to where we could see mudflats, it was immediately apparent that
something was traumatizing the shorebirds. About a hundred of them were around,
but seemed on the edge of nervous breakdown. (We never found the villain)
Most of the birds stayed in the air most of the time, but then just before we
left some came in and landed among the rocks and debris, and stayed crouched,
trying to hide.
Among the ones we identified were these;
American Golden-plover 1
Willet 1 (Heard calling, then seen flying in the distance, never came in)
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Sanderling 8
Pectoral Sandpiper 4
Least Sandpiper 35
Semipalmated Sandpiper 2
Good birding, Ruben Stoll, Centerville, TN.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless smartphone
