Saturday, May 28, 2022

Temp 49, overcast, wind 5-10 mph ENE

Still in the doldrums, weather-wise.

No new birds today, but a fun day nonetheless.

The Black-tailed Godwits and two Bar-tailed Godwits were on Clam Lagoon this morning.

And the Tundra Swan, Common Mergansers, Bramblings, and Pine Siskins lingered.

The flight arrived at 2 PM and Sam and Bob departed and Dave and Dave and Steve and Bo and Tammy arrived!

After they quickly unpacked the birding necessities, I took them up to Clam Lagoon for the Black-tailed Godwits, which would be lifers for all of them.

The birds cooperated and they all got great photos.

They told me they were interested in the wagtail, Short-eared Owl, and Common Snipe.

So I decided to at least show them where these birds were being seen, so they could try for them over the next few days.

We went down to Contractors Camp Marsh, and as we pulled up to the White Building, there was the wagtail perched on the roof! Unfortunately, it flew down behind the building and we could not relocate it.

While we were there, snipe were calling. I’ve had both Wilson’s and Common there this trip, so I don’t know which ones they were. I can only identify them by sight.

So at least they will know where to look tomorrow.

As we were leaving that area, a Short-eared Owl popped up and perched and then flew around to the delight of all. It as a lifer for at least one of the group.

We then went over to the Landing Lights, and as we were walking out, there was the wagtail on the beach! Again, everyone got photos. I’m not sure how many this was a lifer for.

On the jetty, were a flock of Rock Sandpipers (another lifer for one of them).

We then headed into town so I could show them the feeder where the Bramblings and Siskins were coming to.

As we pulled up, there were a couple of Bramblings!

What a start to their trip!

In all of these cases, I hung back to let them get photos, so I took none today.

However, my feeder-cam was busy all day and captured this.

Brambling (rear) and Pine Siskin, My feeder, May 28, 2022

A shout out to Gabi, who suggested I put a feeder-cam up. Thanks Gabi!

Today’s trip list can be seen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S111561273.