Saturday, August 21, 2021

August 21 Field Trip Report

Nineteen people showed up for our August 21 Wastewater Field Trip.  We caravanned through the Rapid Infiltration cells, birded the north end of the center dike, and finished at the Clay Pond on the south side.

Shorebirds were nicely spread around the lagoons despite none of the rapid filtration cells being drawn down.  We found 13 of these: Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Stilt Sandpiper, Sanderling, Baird's Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope ...

... Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.  Two birders not with our group reported a Ruddy Turnstone.

Others among the 54 species identified by our group included Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Sandhill Crane, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret ...

... Green Heron, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrel, Merlin, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, Eastern Meadowlark, Baltimore Oriole, and Dickcissel.

Moments of interest included a yellowlegs morphing from a phalarope, a crow morphing from a hawk via a raven, and an eagle morphing back and forth from golden to bald.  Sorry if you missed any of this -- we'll hold another field trip next month.

Additional photos by Carol Cooper: