To all the birders that have been lucky enough to see, or will hopefully see, the Buff-breasted Sandpipers passing thru Northeastern Ohio this Fall, here are some facts to help you appreciate what these buff colored beauties go thru on there migratory journey. Buff-breasted Sandpipers have one of the longest migration routes of any of the birds we see in Ohio, traveling nearly 10,000 miles from their artic breeding grounds on the tundra of the far north of Canada, to the wintering grounds in the southern most areas of South America in Argentina and Chile. When stopping over in Ohio, they are not even a quarter of the way to their destination, having already traveled about 2250 miles to us, with about 7750 miles to go. As hard as it is to believe, the Buffies were hunted to dangerously low levels in the early 20th century, with present numbers appearing stable. My experience with Buff-breasted Sandpipers, only in the Fall in Ohio, is if you have total sightings of 1 to 3, it has been a great year. Don't expect to have the phenomenon of The Wilderness Road happening every year. I believe the highest single Ohio sighting of 30+ was on August 31, 2005 at Hoover Reservoir during Hurricane Katrina, coincidentally, the same date as yesterday. The highest count I heard reported at Wilderness Road yesterday was 24. Will more be found today, or have the little cuties moved on. No matter what, it is definitely another banner year for Buffies. Enjoy it, and don't expect to see it happen every year.
 
Bob Lane   
                                          
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