During the midday, Jeff Grabmeier and I birded the northeastern shore
of the Hoover Reservoir Nature Preserve today (7/28). We had 11
species of shorebird and LAUGHING GULL. Our best bird was a very
early BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. We found the bird by entering at the
Yacht Club entrance off of Sunbury Rd east of Galena. We then hiked
westward along the abandoned blacktop road to the second mowed path
to the south. This lead us to the reservoir shore with Pelican Island
(now a peninsula) on our left and a small bay in front of us. The
right bank of the small bay was a large spit that extends south into
the reservoir then hooks left.

The Buff-breasted sandpiper was found near the wide base of the spit
in the short grass. The bird never came within 20 yards of the
water's edge. The view was distant (~100 yards), but Jeff and I
scoped it with 20X to 60X power. We saw well the plain face, and the
dark centers and pale edges of the feathers of the bird's back. At
this distance I could not make out the fine streaking of the breast,
but the breast was buffier than the belly. When a pectoral sandpiper
walked close by, it had a much more dramatic demarcation between the
breast streaking and the belly. The buff-breasted was about the same
size as the pectoral but seemed more gracile.

Peterjohn gives July 30 as the earliest fall date for BB sandpiper in
Ohio with most occurring mid-August and later. Confirmation of this
bird would be most appreciated.

A LAUGHING GULL was loafing with ring-billed gulls and two Caspian
terns at the end of the spit.

Three SANDERLINGS were foraging along the north end of Pelican
Island. These birds were found when we followed the first mowed path
from the blacktop to the lake and made a very muddy hike westward.

Noteworthy birds seen (Hoover Reservoir):

Semipalmated Plover
Black-bellied Plover - two in transitional plumage
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
SANDERLING - along Pelican Island
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
LAUGHING GULL
Caspian Tern

Happy Birding,



Paul Gardner
Columbus, OH

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