Monday, July 31, 2017

Shorebirds on Shorebird Count Day

Every Saturday Connie has been conducting a shorebird count at the Montlake Fill to document the effects of the mitigation/restoration project there.  Last weekend she counted nothing but the resident Killdeer, and she thought perhaps the migrating ones had all passed through.

So I went down this past Saturday without any high expectations -- perhaps just more Killdeer.  And the first shorebird I saw was, in fact, this delightful Killdeer chick:


But then I stopped by the Main Pond with its muddy bank, and saw this:


A Lesser Yellowlegs!  Haven't seen one there in ages.  And it had company:


A Least Sandpiper...and more company:


Long-billed Dowitchers--quite a nice little collection!


So perhaps shorebird migration isn't over yet.

Unfortunately, this coming week the forecast calls for temperatures in the 90s, which is not comfortable here in Seattle where the humidity tends to be higher.  I may be hunkered down indoors for a while.

2 comments:

  1. Lovely photos!
    Be glad you don't live here. It will be 100+ for over a week. Perhaps Richland housing doesn't look so good after all. Of course, we do tend to have a LOT more air conditioners than Seattle LOL. I hope my heat pump holds out. The thermostat has simply turned the system off three times in the last month and I've come home to an 80 degree house. Blah.

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    1. The idea would be to snowbird in reverse -- because I'd have pots of money from selling high here and buying low there, I could afford to leave there every summer and rent a place on the coast then. And yes, A/C makes a huge difference!

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