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May 2011

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From:
"Lehman, Jay" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lehman, Jay
Date:
Sun, 1 May 2011 17:38:03 -0400
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Here is a posting I just made to Cincinnati Birds.

Other Birders: John Marvin, Steve Bobonick

At about 1:30 pm I arrived at Ellis Lake and met John Marvin already there. He saw some Willets, but had no scope, so I grabbed a telescope to look. There were 15 Willets. Then Steve Bobonick arrived. We continued to scan. Then I found a single lone dowitcher, which looked promising for Long-billed Dowticher due to shape-rounded belly and hump-backed, so we walked to a relatively dry area just west of the grassy causeway close to the water to get closer looks through the scopes. In addition, to the shape, I noted that the base of the bill looked more like a Long-billed (forehead comes down to relatively straight upper mandible rather than the triangular shape of the Short-billed Dowitcher where the base of bill (both upper and lower mandibles) meets the front of the face. This is looking from the side.) This bird had barring at the bend of the wing as per Long-billed Dowitcher. The barring was not as complete as in full breeding plumage, but was noticeable. The only thing left was to hear the bird call, which it did a little later, giving the single "peep" or "keek" flight note, which confirms Long-billed Dowitcher. There were at least 12 species of shorebirds at Ellis Lake.

Semipalmated Plover 20
Killdeer 10
Spotted Sandpiper 10
Solitary Sandpiper 30
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Willet 15 (we thought Western due to plumage characteristics)
Lesser Yellowlegs 30
Least Sandpiper 30
Pectoral Sandpiper 10
Dunlin 1 (breeding plumage)
Long-billed Dowitcher 1
Wilson's Snipe 2

A Peregrine came in and chased all of the smaller shorebirds away except for the Willets and the Long-billed Dowitcher, which wisely stayed with the Willets on the ground in a tight group. Some of the shorebirds started to return just before I left at about 3:30 pm. Jason Cade arrived just before I left.

Hopefully John Marvin or Steve Bobonick can correct or add to these numbers

We looked for but did not find the American Golden Plover reported there this morning. There is a lot of turn-over at this spot, so it needs to be monitored daily or several times per day by those who can.

John and I walked to the north east to scan for the American Bittern. No luck. Wrong time of day!
Jay

Jay G. Lehman
Cincinnati, OH


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