I arrived in Sandusky at 7 am for my first ever trip out to the sandbar with my friend Kurt in hopes of seeing the trio of Red Knots that had been present last week. Not only were the knots still there, but they had plenty of incredible company! The sandbar had plenty of exposed sand due to the southwestern winds when we first got there, and it was crawling with shorebirds. 

Among the usual suspects (a handful of Least Sandpipers and upwards of 30 Semipalmated Sandpipers), there was quite the variety. I counted at least 46 Sanderlings, 4 Ruddy Turnstones, 1 Black-bellied Plover, about a dozen Short-billed Dowitchers, a massive flock of about 1,000 of all three expected white terns (Common, Forster's, and Caspian), and a high count of 4 fresh juvenile Black Terns. 

As the morning went on, the winds shifted to out of the north and brought with it some great migrants; 1 (possibly 2) White-rumped Sandpiper, a drop-in Wilson's Phalarope, 1 Black-bellied Plover, and 1 Semipalmated Plover. 
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