Whitesbog 9/6--White-rumped Sandpiper

 It's the most wonderful time of the year.

You might think I'm a couple of months early with that sentiment, but for me, it's a month late. For the second year in a row, the bogs at Whitesbog have remained full, because the farmer needed the water for the fall. True, Union Pond, which isn't connected to the system, evaporated nicely and provided some exciting rarities in August, but it is always better when the 3 main bogs are drawn down, creating a mini-Brig. On Wednesday, the farmer pulled up to me in his pickup and told me that he was moving the water out of the bogs (really reservoirs) and over the dikes and across Route 70 to prepare for the cranberry harvest mid-month. He figured there'd be mud by the weekend. 

This morning the bogs were still pretty full, but in the higher spots of the Middle Bog and in the back of the Upper Bog, there was some nice moist mud and sand, and a lot of the shorebirds were feeding there instead of Union Pond, which is actually pretty dry by now. At the corner of the Middle Bog I found about dozen Least Sandpipers feeding and a much larger sandpiper, actually too big to qualify as a peep--my first White-rumped Sandpiper of the year, and a rarity in Burlco. I wanted to get a picture, of course, and only then noticed how light my right shoulder felt; I had left the camera in the car. I digiscoped a couple of shots and walked back to my vehicle, which was diagonally across from the White-rumped.  I was hoping it would stick (a lot of rarities tend to make "touch and goes" at Whitesbog), and when I got back, I was able relocate the bird and take some better documentary pictures. I looked up the dam and there was my informant strolling toward me with his big black dog running in front of him, coming up to me. I was waving to my friend to hurry up, but I guess Gunny thought I was urging him on.  Gunny is always thrilled to see me. The birds, however, were not thrilled to see Gunny and took flight as soon as he came up to me. "Your big dopey dog just scared off the rarity," I told my friend. That was the second time he's missed White-rumped at Whitesbog this year. 

As the bogs draw down, I'm hoping for a September to remember with late shorebirds and who knows what other oddities plunking down in the puddles and feeding along Cranberry Run around which the bogs were dug out 100+ years ago. 

I had 29 species, 9 of the shorebird variety, this morning, walking around the dams and Union Pond and back into Ditch Meadow, where I found the Wood Ducks for the day. 

29 species
Wood Duck  2
Mallard  17
American Black Duck  2
Killdeer  6
Semipalmated Plover  4
Spotted Sandpiper  3
Lesser Yellowlegs  2
Greater Yellowlegs  3
White-rumped Sandpiper  1     
Least Sandpiper  30
Pectoral Sandpiper  2
Semipalmated Sandpiper  1
Great Egret  2
Great Blue Heron  2
Belted Kingfisher  1
Northern Flicker  2
Merlin  1
American Crow  3
Common Raven  1     Croaking
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tree Swallow  100
Purple Martin  5
Barn Swallow  3
Gray Catbird  5
American Goldfinch  1
Song Sparrow  7
Eastern Towhee  1
Common Yellowthroat  1
Pine Warbler  1

Displaying crossed wing tips, next to Least Sandpiper