Brig 8/27--Hudsonian Godwit, Red-necked Phalarope

Hudsonian Godwit

A couple of interesting shorebirds showed up at Brig on Saturday so I was already planning on going there today when Bob Auster called last night. He originally wanted to see if I was interested in doing some "sod farming" today, but instead agreed that Brig had possibilities. We met there early this morning and we weren't disappointed.

The water levels in the SW pool were best for shorebirds and it is about the only place on the refuge with a lot of exposed mud flats, perfect for "grasspipers." Bob found a very intriguing sandpiper there that we spent a lot of time debating--was it a Baird's Sandpiper, or a White-rumped, or just a big Semi? Just yesterday I had spent a lot of time at Whitesbog trying to figure out with Jim S. another sandpiper that finally devolved into a Semi, so I was a little more dubious than Bob. If we had seen this bird on a sod farm, I'd probably think it was a Baird's, but, given the difficulty of the i.d. and that fact that we didn't have a photo (the bird moved around a lot) I just couldn't put it down as anything other than "shorebird." Bob, after much thought, figures it was a White-rumped and he's likely correct. These shorebirds can be frustrating especially when they're more than 5 feet away from (in other words--always).

Red-necked Phalarope in the water

Speaking of a bird that moved around a lot, we found our first target bird up the road by the observation tower--a spinning, fidgety, Red-necked Phalarope. This is a bird that you could identify by behavior--only phalaropes whirl around in the water. The big eye patch gave it away as a Red-necked instead of the Wilson's that had been there for a good part of the month. I was able only to get really coarse photos of it due to the distance. Bob already had this species from a pelagic trip earlier this month, but it was a year bird for me.

We both got a year bird on the East Dike when we stopped near the Osprey tower to find the Hudsonian Godwit in with a group of yellowlegs. Surprisingly, this time of year Hudwits are not listed as rare at Brig, nor are the Marbled Godwits we saw nearby. Yet, announce that you have one and birders come running.

It wasn't until we were on the north dike that we found any ibises. Bob & I saw a bird that looked good for White Ibis while were making the turn at the dogleg, but by the time we stopped it had disappeared (that's also known as "flying away"). We scanned a flock of Glossy Ibises hoping for a White-faced Ibis which was seen by others but we couldn't find that either--a bird that continues to elude me this year and time for finding one is rapidly running out. It wasn't until our second trip around the Wildlife Drive that Bob & I were able to locate the White Ibis, a mottled juvenile, that promptly flew away (also known as disappearing) into the reeds at the back of the pool. With difficulty we were able to locate it for a couple of birder buddies who drove up behind us.

I had 62 species, including 16 types of shorebirds, for the day which is acceptable, especially considering that we didn't make much of an effort to find passerines and we didn't spend any time trying to turn a Short-billed Dowitcher into a Long-billed Dowitcher.

Snow Goose 1 Continuing injured
Canada Goose 15
Mute Swan 6
Wood Duck 4
Blue-winged Teal 35
Northern Shoveler 2
Mallard 50
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Double-crested Cormorant 70
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 30
Snowy Egret 45
Little Blue Heron 1 North Dike
Black-crowned Night-Heron 4 Two at Gull Pond, two on south dike
White Ibis 1 Mottled white & brown Ibis on north dike. continuing.
Glossy Ibis 27
Osprey 5
Clapper Rail 2
American Oystercatcher 1
Black-bellied Plover 11
Semipalmated Plover 50
Hudsonian Godwit 1 From East Dike, near Osprey platform
Marbled Godwit 3
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Stilt Sandpiper 15
Least Sandpiper 20
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 400
Western Sandpiper 5
Short-billed Dowitcher 40
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher 1
Red-necked Phalarope 1 Continuing at observation tower Spinning wildly.
Greater Yellowlegs 40
Lesser Yellowlegs 2
Laughing Gull 300
Ring-billed Gull 1
Herring Gull 95
Great Black-backed Gull 6
Least Tern 2
Caspian Tern 3
Black Tern 1
Common Tern 1
Forster's Tern 155
Black Skimmer 60
Mourning Dove 1
Chimney Swift 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Heard upland
Peregrine Falcon 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Blue Jay 3 Heard
American Crow 6
Fish Crow 1 Heard
Tree Swallow 40
Carolina Chickadee 1 Heard
Carolina Wren 3 Heard
Gray Catbird 3
European Starling 100
Common Yellowthroat 2
Saltmarsh Sparrow 1
Eastern Towhee 1 Heard picnic tables
Red-winged Blackbird 10
American Goldfinch 3