I got one right!
Temp in the 50s, partly sunny, occasional (very) light shower in the morning, Wind WNW 5-10 mph
I decided to do Finger Creek this morning, to look for tattlers, etc.
No luck on the tattlers, but at the North Quarry, on Lake Leone, I found a Tufted Duck! This is awfully early for this species, so I suspect that the lingering Tufted Duck I had in the spring, lingered on…
Distant, but identifiable photo.
I radioed Aaron about it and his group came down and saw it. A lifer for one of them.
I checked numerous spots (at a leisurely pace), but found nothing new.
I met up again with Aaron at Haven Lake around noon. He was taking his group back for lunch, while I headed up towards Clam Lagoon. I was going to walk the peninsula, while they were later going to walk the marsh edge.
I walked out the peninsula and three quarters of the way out spotted a peep hiding behind a rock.
As I approached, it flew over to an exposed sand island and then let me photograph it to my heart’s content.
I wasn’t sure at first (with my history of misidentifying stints), but thought it might be a Little Stint.
I took a lot of photos, then headed back to the car. Once there, I reviewed the photos and convinced myself that it was indeed a Little Stint.
I got on the radio to call Aaron and, amazingly, they had just crested the hill coming down to the lagoon and were within range.
They arrived at my location in a few minutes and we walked back out the peninsula.
The bird was still there and Aaron confirmed my identification.
It was a lifer for most of the group, including Aaron Bowman, the co-leader!
I finally got one right…
The bird was most cooperative and they all got umpteen photos.
They went to walk the marsh edge while I continued elsewhere.
Further up the lagoon, I found a Pelagic Cormorant that was unusually close. Most of the cormorants up here are wary.
I found nothing else of note, but on the way back down the lagoon, Aaron radioed me that they had seen another (or the same) Little Stint at the south end of the marsh edge. However, all the birds in the area were flushed by a patrolling Peregrine, so there was no way to determine if this was the same bird or not.
The Peregrine soared over me as I was receiving this news.
So, a good day for all.
The trip list is 39.
You can see the eBird list at https://ebird.org/checklist/S119069590