I know it seems early to think about fall migration, but Tim O'Brien's note
was a reminder that the first day of summer is often the first of fall
shorebird migration. Since it is was showery yesterday and mid-70s, partly
cloudy, and relatively green today, I'm not sure spring is over yet.



I checked the old potato settling ponds this morning and came up empty but
for a few Killdeer. Cormorants, pelicans, egrets and herons were in good
numbers, but water levels are still high and there is little mud along the
shoreline. Waterfowl have thinned out, mostly broods on the water and a few
males are still hanging on to breeding colors. Two Blue-winged Teal still
had crescents but otherwise were mostly in eclipse plumage. The Para Ponds
along McManamon Road had a little movement as I caught a small flock of
peeps crossing the main pond to the north. I located 6 Least Sandpipers
going in and out of cover at water's edge, and later at least one each
Western and Semipalmated Sandpiper. Two American Avocets flew in as I
watched a male Tricolored Blackbird along the edge of the pond. (We have
suspected nesting locally ever since Stuart Johnston first detected one or
more here in the early 1990s, but nothing definitive yet.) Two suspected
yellowlegs were noted in the distance flying toward the potato ponds, and
when I got back there I found one each Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs in one
of the few open areas of shoreline. A reminder that these ponds are private
property and closed to entry without specific permission, even if the gate
is open.



Seven species wasn't bad for "early fall", and I'm sure there are stilts,
snipe, Wilson's Phalaropes, and Spotted Sandpipers to be found nearby since
they all nest locally.



Randy Hill

Othello/Ridgefield