Northern Hoover Reservoir still sported 3 Little Blue Herons this morning, along with scads of other herons and shorebirds.  The flats are unusually expansive for this early date, and it's actually possible to miss large #s of shorebirds that stray far from the waters edge.  I stopped at Oxbow Island, Sunbury causeway, Eastside YachtClub mudflats, the Galena Boardwalk, and Wiese Rd access.  Highlights included:

Great Blue Herons - 45 fairly evenly scattered over the entire northern end
Great Egrets - 8, but 6 of those were along the shore north of the Eastside yacht club
Little Blue Herons - 2 were north of the Sunbury causeway, while another was along the shore north of the yacht club
Green Herons - singles were at Oxbow and the yacht club shore.
Kildeer - easily the most common shorebird, with 240+ in 2 hours
Semipalmated Plovers - 5, all off the Galena boardwalk (which had the most shorebirds)
Spotted Sandpipers - 6, evenly spread out over several sites
Solitary Sandpipers - 7, of which 5 were along the shore north of the yacht club
Lesser Yellowlegs - 9, evenly spread over several sites
Pectoral Sandpipers - 95+, with flocks at the boardwalk and Wiese Rd flats
Least Sandpipers - 15+, mostly off the boardwalk
Semipalmated Sandpipers - 20+, mostly off the boardwalk
Herring Gulls - an early adult & juvenile were on the cobble spit north of the yacht club
Caspian Terns - 15 were resting on the sandbar near Pelican Island, north of the yacht club
Bald Eagles - 2 adults along the shore north of the yacht club, not far from the nesting area of this past season
Osprey - singles at Oxbow, Sunbury causeway, and the Galena boardwalk
Yellow-billed cuckoo - 1 calling in the forest adjacent to the Galena boardwalk
Red-headed Woodpeckers - a pair were flying around Oxbow Island, while other singles were at the yacht club, the Area M bridge, and the base of the boardwalk
Eastern Kingbirds - small groups of 2-4 at several locations
Cliff Swallows - still plenty of foragers, and some late nesters under the Galena bridge.
Purple Martins - a group of 20 apparently roosted around the boardwalk area
Other Swallows - plenty of Barns, and a few Rough-wings and Trees, flying around the mudflats and grassflats

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