Today Jim Fry and I checked on the shorebird activity at the north end of
Hoover Reservoir. We ran into several other birders that we know who were
also on the lookout for new fallout from the fall migration. The mudflats
are getting very extensive at the two sites we checked, the boardwalk at Area
M and the mudflats off Pelican Island. Overall numbers of individuals were
respectable and the variety normal for late July. The highlight has to be
the Little Blue Heron that continues to forage without a care right off the
end of the boardwalk. The views of the Little Blue Heron through a
spotting scope are as good as it gets. The American Avocets were not seen either
at the boardwalk or the Pelican Mudflats. They may still be around as there
is plenty of habitat for them. Good locations to check include the mudflats
off Wiese Road and Oxbow Road in addition to still keeping an eye out for
them at the boardwalk. Both Great Blue Herons (30+) and Great Egrets
(15-20) were abundant and everywhere you looked. A pair of American Coots was
perched on a snag near the Big Walnut Creek channel as it cuts through the
Area M mudflats. Shorebirds off the boardwalk included Semipalmated Plover
(4), Killdeer (50+), Greater Yellowlegs (8), Lesser Yellowlegs (15), Solitary
Sandpiper (2), Spotted Sandpiper (15), Semipalmated Sandpiper (30-35),
Least Sandpiper (50+), Pectoral Sandpiper (20-25) and Stilt Sandpiper (1).
There were many Cliff Swallows going in and out from their nests under the Old
3C Highway bridge. The last fledged Osprey is still around begging for
attention.
The mudflats around Pelican Island have become very extensive and most of
the activity is far out near the water’s edge, although there are several
areas where the ground level drops and small inlets have formed. Both areas
were active with shorebirds, herons and egrets. Here too both Great Blue
Herons (25+) and Great Egrets (15-20) were abundant and everywhere you
looked. Shorebirds included Semipalmated Plover (2), Killdeer (75+), Greater
Yellowlegs (10), Lesser Yellowlegs (10), Solitary Sandpiper (2), Spotted
Sandpiper (20), Semipalmated Sandpiper (30-35), Least Sandpiper (50+), Pectoral
Sandpiper (20-25) and Stilt Sandpiper (1 -2). The sand ridge near the water
held Caspian Terns (30+) and Herring Gulls (5) in additional to the throng
of Ring-billed Gulls.
Charlie Bombaci for Myself and Jim Fry
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