As most of you know I've been DYING to see some shorebirds! Well this morning at eight thirty I went to Riverlands. . . a place that I had never not gotten a lifer. I figured I would get at least one lifer (Least Terns nest there).
Well we got there, and I noticed some Killdeer, GBHs, Great Egrets, and some geese. We went to the Audobon center, hoping to see the terns. I happened to see the guy who helped me lead that bird walk back in may, so I said hi, and caught up on birding stuff. The sign that says what's been going on lately said, "Sedge Wrens are all over right now." Since Sedge Wrens would be a lifer, I got excited. I went out to look in the Ellis Bay, and I saw several Least Terns flying around, lifer number one.
We Left to go to Heron Pond Trail, where I thought I might have a chance at seeing some Sedge Wrens, and shorebirds. When I got there, I saw three Great Blue Herons, and a Great Egret, no wonder they named it Heron Pond! I continued walking, and spooked several Killdeer. Soon, the six foot tall reeds were all around. . . perfect habitat for a Sedge Wren. I kept hearing some sort of bird, hoping it was a Sedge Wren I kept looking. After walking a 1/4 of a mile, with no luck with Sedge Wrens, or shorebirds, I decided to turn around, and go somewhere else.
We went to the dam, hoping to see something cool. Well, the only cool thing I saw was a Gull. I think it was a Ring-billed Gull. There were also lots of swallow. . . not sure what kind, but I think they were NRWS.
We stopped at many of the observation decks to get a good look, we saw some Cormorants, tons of Killdeer, and a Raccoon corpse. I think the Coyotes got to it.
There wasn't much cool, so we continued. (just to be clear we is my mom, brother and I)I decided to go to Ellis Island, hoping that they still had the bay drained. Before we got there, I decided to stop at Teal Pond. At first glance it looked just like some Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and TONS of Killdeer. But one small shorebird flying caught my eye. It landed on a small island in the middle of the pond. (more of a lake IMO) It was dwarfed by the Killdeer standing next to it. I knew it was a peep.
I got very excited, but that was soon shattered. My camera, and binocs didn't get me close enough, so it was super hard to see what it was. I took the picture none the less, and went back to the Audobon center to ask the naturalist. He said it looked like Pectoral, Solitary, or Least Sandpiper. I didn't think it looked like a Solitary at all, and not that much like a Pec either. I said it looked like a least to me. It had yellow legs, so that's really all I thought it could be.
I went to Ellis Island, and the water was there, they had put it back. So I went back to Teal Pond, one last time. After patroling the shore for a while I saw a Spotted Sandpiper, which would be a photo lifer, so I snapped several photo. My family laughed because I belly crawled to get a good shot.
Don't know why that's so funny.It spooked, and I followed it. Don't know why but I did. Thank heavens I did!!!!!! While following it, I noticed TINY shorebirds foraging nearby. I went and got very good shots of what I'm 99% sure are Leasts. I will post them later.
