Temp around 50, mostly cloudy, light NE wind switching to moderate NW wind by afternoon.
We went down to Finger Bay and Creek this morning. No new birds, but had a lot of Pink Salmon spawning.
Worked our way north to Clam Lagoon and I walked out the peninsula to see if the Westerns were still around. They weren’t, but as I rounded the bend, three small plovers flew ahead of me a short distance. My adrenaline started flowing, as Semiplamated Plovers shouldn’t be here this late and Common Ringed Plover would be a lifer for us.
I radioed Barb what I was seeing, and she read the differentiating details from the shorebird book to me as I photographed them and studied them in the scope. Sad to say, all features pointed to Semis, not Ringed.
Semipalmated Plovers, Clam Lagoon, Sept 8, 2013.
Semipalmated Plovers, Clam Lagoon, Sept 8, 2013.
Semipalmated Plover, Clam Lagoon, Sept 8, 2013.
As with the number of Westerns yesterday, this was still a significant record, as we had never seen Semis on any of our previous September trips. So, no lifer, but a nice record.
We continued around to the seawall and had some Rock Sandpipers and four Horned Grebes, but nothing else significant. At Candlestick Bridge, about 50 Common Eiders (all females and immatures) were roosting on the beach.
We drove up the road towards Zeto Point in order to scan Lake Ronnie, where ducks like to hide. There were about 20 Mallards, 5 Greater Scaup, and 2 Northern Pintail.
We came back around the lagoon and I decided to walk the marsh edge, since it was two days since the last time. I don’t like to walk it too frequently, as it disturbs the birds (Although in some years, the birds don’t flush and don’t seem to mind! However, this year they seem very skitterish.). About a dozen Pectorals and 4 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers flew out along the way and one Long-billed Dowitcher stayed.
Pectoral Sandpiper, Clam Lagoon, Sept 8, 2013.
Long-billed Dowitcher, Clam Lagoon, Sept 8, 2013.
We still had one Parasitic Jaeger hanging around.
We are up to 39 species for the trip. Our average for previous September trips is 51, so for the first few days, this number is okay.