[wisb] More shorebird madness!! (Mississippi River, Prairie Du Chien)
- From: Chris West <little_blue_birdie@xxxxxxx>
- To: "[Wisb]" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2012 19:15:34 -0500
Hey everyone!
The shorebird madness continued today with a spectacular shorebird extravaganza
in Prairie Du Chien! For those of you familiar with birding along the
Mississippi River, you'll know that shorebird habitat is usually in short
supply and far between, and therefore, shorebirds also tend to be in short
supply.
That changed with the movement today.
The route that my daily cruise takes leaves St Feriole Island and heads south.
Just south of the Hwy 18 bridge, the first small island has a mudflat that
extends quite a ways out. As we cruise past, I've been checking this on a daily
basis for shorebirds. Today, I lucked out.
As I scanned the mudflat, I picked up the regulars: Ring-billed Gull, Great
Blue Heron, Canada Goose, etc. All of a sudden, I came across a slightly more
unexpected bird. A large Tern sitting at the edge of the water. I just about
flipped out! It was a Caspian Tern! It got better from there. The next group
of birds I came across were medium-sized, pale shorebirds. It took a second
since I don't see these regularly in WI, but the ID was clear. There were 3
WILLETS foraging on the mudflat.
We continued our cruise route down to the mouth of the WI River and then back.
On the return route, we passed the island again. This time, an eagle flew over
and spooked everything. I watched as the Tern got up and flew off, then the
Willets, then, all of a sudden, there were about 20 smaller shorebirds flying
around; Sandpipers!!As they twisted and turned, I picked out LEAST,
SEMIPALMATED, BAIRD'S and PECTORAL Sandpipers. Then, another medium-sized bird
flew by. This one was mostly white with a dark belly; BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER!!
As you can imagine, I was ecstatic by this time.
After our cruise ended (we saw 18 Bald Eagles btw) I headed straight to a good
spot where I could see the mudflat from land. The Tern and the Willets were
gone, but the others were still present. As I scanned, I picked out a smaller,
whitish-looking shorebird doing little circles in shallow water. Realizing what
it probably was, I quickly contacted my friend Alex Stark to let him know.
He wasn't able to run down immediately, but did arrive later, after I had left
and texted me to let me know that most of the shorebirds were still present.
I'll let him tell you his story since he was able to get better looks at
everything (I am currently minus a scope for now).
Alex confirmed my suspicion that the smaller, whitish-looking shorebird was
indeed a Phalarope, and that the other small, pale shorebird was a SANDERLING!
I won't say what the Phalarope was, I'll let Alex tell you that part. However,
I will say this: it wasn't a Wilson's!
That's one heck of a shorebird day along the Mississippi River by the way!
Happy Birding! --Chris W, Richland County Interpretive Naturalist Mississippi
Explorer Cruises
http://mississippiexplorer.com/chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/
http://www.nabirding.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/swallowtailphoto
"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first
material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the
composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no
more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be
again."
(From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906)
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