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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