I wondered to myself as I drove to the Hoover Resevoir near Galena,
Willet still be there or Willet be gone by now? Two days late; I hadn't
noticed the posts from the past couple of days. I'm not sure how I
missed them, but Willet had been a sort of nemesis for me in Ohio, I
needed it as a statebird. Luckily, as I exited the pines and emerged at
the shoreline on the east shore  (from the Yacht club trail) I quickly
picked the lone bird out w/ my bino's. The Willet was close in and
stuck to the inlet between the southward Peninsula and the nearshore. I
watched him for a while and got some decent photos (which I'll try and
post a link to on the forum). He seemed to be a Juvenile Western supsp.
Willet from what I could tell, but I'm no expert on Willets. It was
great to get a statebird that I've been a little overdo for. He was fun
to watch and much more bold than the other shorebirds, he didn't spook
at the dirt bikes that drove by. I got to see it flash those cool
black-and-white flight feathers as he almost tripped on a darting
killdeer. I also saw some other birds there including a Juv. Stilt
Sandpiper. At the boardwalk there were some other birds, I saw the
adult osprey bring the now-flying juvenile a fish. I also endured the
usual questions from passers-by, whether I'd caught anything, whether
I'd taken some good pictures or shots, some said there wasn't much to
look at out there, and another teen asked if I was looking for Bigfoot.
hmm, well I sure didn't find him, shucks. I'll settle for that Willet I
guess ;-)

List:

Eastshore:

Willet - 1
Stilt - 1 juv
Greater Yellowlegs - 1 adult
Lesser Yellowlegs - adults and juv.
Solitary S.p.
Spotted S.p
etc.

Boardwalk:

Short-billed Dowitcher - 1 juv.
Both Yellowlegs
Pectoral S.p - 10+
Least S.P. - Juv. and worn breeding adults
Semi-palmated S.p. - Molting adults and juvies
Solitary Sandpipers
Possible Baird's - looked like one but couldn't tell for sure at the
great distance and bad light
Spotted S.p.
Killdeer
Semi-palmated Plover - 15+
Great Blues
Great Egret - 1
Belted Kingfisher -1
Osprey - 2
D.C. cormorants -2
Ringbilled gulls
Mallards
Bigfoot - no

         Good Birding!
  - Ben Warner
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