Post-pelagic trip from Port Clinton, I tried for the lately elusive
immature LB Heron at Ottawa NWR in the south east corner of impoundment 2C
at the chair on the way to the observation platform.  Found  6 Snowy Egrets
but no Little Blue Heron.  There were 6 Short-billed Dowitchers, at least 2
Pectoral Sandpipers, some yellowlegs (uncounted) and some peeps not ID'd as
species.  When the shorebirds flew around, I heard the distinct peeping
flight calls of Long-billed Dowitchers, and it sounded like more than one
or like 2 to 3.  This LBDO call, described as "keek" but sounds like "peep"
to me, given in flight but also on the ground is distinguished from the
tu-tu-tu (yellowlegs-like) call of Short-billed Dowitcher.  Could not find
the LBDO on the ground but found only Short-billed Dowitchers distinguished
by the orangish tiger striping in the tertials.

Stayed the night up north, returned on Sunday morning.  This morning,
Sunday, arrived about 10 and found one LB Dowitcher in the SW corner of the
wet area in the SE corner of 2C and close to the path to the observation
deck.  I again first heard the "peep" note and then found it with 4 Stilt
Sandpipers, 1 Greater Yellowlegs and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs.  This morning I
was able to see the dark gray tertials and greater coverts that lacked
tiger striping.  The bird flew to the northern and middle part of the wet
area and gave the high pitched single "peep" call while in flight and
showed what appeared to be a darker tail relative to the white in the back
than for the SB Dowitchers seen flying Sat evening.  Later just before
leaving 2C, I heard and saw the LBDO not far from 2 SBDO in the SE
cornerand could see the more hump backed shape of the feeding LBDO relative
to the much straighter and less hump backed shape of the feeding SBDO.

Hiked around 2C looking for the Little Blue Heron but did not find it,
found only 10 Snowy Egrets (ad + imm) scattered in the SE corner and around
2C.  25 Great Egrets, 10 Great Blue Herons, 2 Black-crowned Night Herons, 3
Sandhill Cranes, 10 Caspian Terns & 20 Ring-billed Gulls.  Shorebird
totals:  3 Greater & 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Solitary
Sandpiper, 4 Stilt Sandpipers, 2 Short-billed Dowitchers, 1 Long-billed
Dowitcher.
Jay

Jay G Lehman Cincinnati, OH
Sent from DROID RAZR HD

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.


You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]