I want to apologize for some errors I made in yesterday's post on
shorebirds (below).  They were pointed out to me by expert recordkeepers
Alan Wormington and John Herman.
        These errors involve the numbers and timing of whimbrel migration. Alan
reminded me that it is in spring, not fall, that observers see large
flocks on the Ontario side of Lake Erie, with all the consequences for
us on the Ohio side. The spring record day at Point Pelee numbered 600.
I looked up the records, and it turns out Ohio also has many more
whimbrels recorded in spring, not fall as I stated. For example, John
related that he had twice seen inland flocks of over a hundred: 101 at
Funk Bottoms WA on 26 May 1984, and 106 at Killdeer Plains on 5/24/1995.
These are more unusual than the 150+ John Pogacnik reported over Lake
Erie in spring of 2000, for instance; overall more whimbrels occur in
Ohio in spring, and usually over Lake Erie. But good luck or a lot of
time is required to see them.
        This makes sense as the urgency to get to the breeding grounds
encourages large flocks of this species to pass through our region. But
they are in a hurry, and only briefly pass by. They are easy to see when
present, but seldom are they seen for long, or by many observers. They
are at least predictable; nearly all these flocks have been seen between
20 and 30 May here.
        Fall whimbrels are the ones that most often make it to peoples' lists,
because they are more spread out over the landscape (though in much
smaller numbers), and tend to stay longer in one spot. I bet many more
birders will remember the lone one that hung around Medusa Marsh for so
long a few years ago, more birders than have ever seen one in spring.
Still, while the number of locations in which fall whimbrels are seen is
larger, their overall numbers are fewer.
        Sorry for misleading anyone with my errors; most of my own whimbrel
sightings were understandably in the fall, which led me to think they
were more numerous then. Still, now is probably the best time to look
for whimbrels, not because they are more numerous, but because they are
more spread across the landscape, and more likely to be there tomorrow
after someone reports them today. Still, I look forward to seeing a big
flight someday...
With my apologies,
Bill Whan


On 8/9/2012 12:44 PM, Bill Whan wrote:
> It is worth looking up the patterns of migrations of arctic-nesting
> shorebirds through the Great Lakes. It might be useful to make a few
> basic points again about regular occurrences here in fall.
> One large group of regular migrants follows the central (Mississippi)
> flyway north in spring. Anxious to claim the best nesting territories
> in the Arctic, they waste no off-course time in getting there. Some
> examples are Hudsonian godwit, long-billed dowitcher, buff-breasted
> sandpiper, and stilt sandpiper. Whimbrels move north along or near the
> Atlantic coast. Few Ohioans have seen these species here in spring.
> Southbound in fall, most shorebirds move more slowly and widely. Some
> of the strongest fliers--larger and longer
> -winged--take advantage of their capabilities to fly in flocks over
> water on their way to South American wintering areas in fall. Remember
> recent press stories about the astonishing non-stop flights of thousands
> of miles by Hudsonian godwits in the western Atlantic and bar-tailed
> godwits over the Pacific (
> http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/shorebirds/barg_updates.html ).
> Whimbrels and Hudsonian godwits, regular (even if never seen as often
> as observers would like) in Ohio move through the state almost
> exclusively in fall, and they show a strong tendency to fly east over
> Lake Erie, stopping when necessary along shorelines in appropriate
> habitat, on their way to the Atlantic, where they fly well offshore
> south to central and South America. See
> http://www.borealbirds.org/birdguide/mig_map_hudsonian_godwit.shtml and
> http://www.ccb-wm.org/programs/migration/Whimbrel/whimbrel.htm .
> Long ago, Eskimo curlews too took the central flyway north, and traveled
> to South America for the winter via an Atlantic Ocean route.
> Buff-breasteds, l-b dowitchers, and stilt sandpipers, also rare here in
> spring, seem to fan out and move in a more leisurely fashion in their
> return journeys (buff-breasteds actually winter in areas where Eskimo
> curlews used to, but lack their long-range flying abilities), thus are
> more often found in Ohio in fall.
> Whimbrels are regularly seen in numbers, in fall often enough in the
> hundreds, on the Ontario side of Lake Erie. They are seen in smaller
> numbers here along the Lake, and inland every once in a while --we had
> an unprecedented flight of 50-60 here in central Ohio a couple of years
> ago, and hundred-plus were found near Killdeer Plains less than twenty
> years ago. Sparse regional spring records of whimbrels are mostly
> restricted to the Ontario side of Lake Erie, and fall flocks average far
> larger there; this may be because the birds are headed to and from the
> north, or it may have something to do with the availability of stopover
> habitat, I don't know. I do know shorebirds are too seldom attracted by
> habitats artificially dedicated to waterfowl, as exist in many Ohio
> lakeside wild venues.
> Anyway, observers interested in fall whimbrel migrants along the Lake
> on their way south should watch for eastbound flocks in flight from good
> vantage points (this is how Ontario observers accumulate their large
> counts), or in expansive shallow wetlands and short grass along the
> shore where they stop to feed and rest. The latter habitat--when open to
> visitation by birders--is especially hard to find. Though their numbers
> are in decline, they are regularly findable there, as they have been for
> many years.
> Bill Whan
> Columbus

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