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Neither snow nor rain nor gloom nor wind nor
mountainous piles of flies nor stink of lake could stay two birders from the
swift completion of their appointed rounds at Antelope Island Causeway this
morning. Glenn Barlow and I found 31 Black-bellied Plovers out on the
mudflats south of the Causeway at the bridge
between mm 6 and 5. Three Red Knots were mixed in with the plovers.
We first picked out the knots from the ragged line of
plovers with binoculars, and then both Glenn and I studied them for a short
time with telescopes while using the truck as a windbreak. The knots and
30 of the 31 plovers flushed and headed west toward the island. We were
not able to locate them again.
We also found many Sanderlings and Western
Sandpipers on the north side of the Causeway from about mm 4 to 2, and on the
south side from about mm 3 to 2. Peep study was exceedingly difficult
today due to strong winds buffeting the truck. In fact, the winds were so
strong that at one point, we're sure we saw Mary Poppins go sailing
by with her umbrella deployed.
Great Blue Herons also fought the wind hard and we
watched several trying to pop up over the causeway, flying north. One of
them hung in the air right over the road for 5-10 seconds, flapping deeply, but
going absolutely nowhere. Other herons and Double-crested Cormorants
made northerly progress if they could top the road and get back down to the
surface of the water on the north side. One cormorant stood on the
south shore of the Causeway, seemingly using a rocky berm for protection
from the northeast wind.
We saw several other species of shorebirds--a
Killdeer, Willets, American Avocets, a Long-billed Curlew, a Marbled Godwit, a
Lesser Yellowlegs, and a Long-billed Dowitcher. The latter three
shorebirds were all at the southeastern curve of the lake where the Causeway
joins the island, and just south of the spit near the fake buffalo.
Of note, we did not see any Dunlins or Black-necked Stilts.
Today's waterfowl included Canada Geese, Gadwall,
Cinnamon Teal, Buffleheads, and Lesser Scaup. We also saw American Coots,
Eared Grebes, a White-faced Ibis, California, Franklin's, and Ring-billed Gulls,
a Northern Harrier, Red-winged Blackbirds, Western Meadowlarks, a Common
Raven, our first Western Kingbird of the year up this-a-way, and just a few
swallows. Surprisingly, the strong winds seemed to depress the usual
swallow activity.
Kris
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