Dear Tweeters,
Thanks to Marv Breece for posting the Channel Drive Sharp-tailed Sandpipers he found on Friday! I went there today, 17 September 2017, and managed to see at least one of them. It took close to two hours of waiting. Channel Drive's not the most wonderful spot in the world to spend hours waiting on a bird, but at least there was football on the radio and lunch to be eaten in the car.
Conditions were very trying, with the wind varying between strong breeze and near gale, plus a hard rain that started after I'd been there awhile. I was able to park and scope the small amount of mud by using a window mount, in between lens-wiping breaks.
A small bat was flying around at about 1230. As I remarked to two other birders who stopped by briefly, seeing a bat at midday does not seem like a good omen--more like "signs and portents." Luckily I ignored the mammal mojo factor and continued waiting.
On the way home, I stopped at Lindgren Road and was happy to see a nice assemblage of sparrows using that site. I also noted flocks of crows forming up here and there--nice to see that we are finally finished with heat-stroke and smoke-inhalation season, and that the winter bird phenomena have begun again.
Yours truly,
Gary Bletsch