I was out to the Wilderness Rd. peat pits for the first time in a week, as
we have been in Michigan. The rain here a few days ago has increased the
size of the pools a bit and covered most of the actual mud flats. Also, a
lot of the mud flats now have vegetation 3-5" tall. One of the Scott's peat
diggers was just starting up the pumps again, so they will be pulling the
water down. I asked the guy how long they will be pumping the water and he
said that will continue until the weather turns and prevents them from
further digging this season. When that happens, the "peat pits" will again
flood for the winter. Actually, that is good, because the flooded pond will
be good for migrating waterfowl and that will kill off the weeds that have
begun to grow. Without the annual flooding, this area would become a field,
not a mudflat area.

This morning, shorebird numbers were fairly low, but I saw nine species:

killdeer - 15+
semipalm plover - 3
gr. yellowlegs - 1
ls. yellowlegs - 6
least sandpiper - 6
Baird's sandpiper - 1
pectoral sandpiper - 1
stilt sandpiper - 8
  (these were foraging belly deep)
Wilson's snipe - 1

Randy Rowe, Wooster

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