August has been a whole different ball game for me. The birds haven't been the typical passerines I usually target. Shorebirds have been on my mind since late July. This has torn me away from my typical birding places like Selkirk Prov Park and Rock Point Prov Park and pulled me to places like Windermere Basin Park and Townsend Sewage Lagoons. This has been nothing short of exciting, bosting some of my favourite birds of the year and an exciting lifer.
August also saw me go to 2 new counties in Ontario (Perth and Huron)! To top it off I met Ken Burrell (the leader of the trip). We went to 3 lagoons and saw some really great birds!
The first lagoon was Milverton. That lagoon was packed with Lesser Yellowlegs! 189 individuals in a single cell! Tucked in with them was a Wilson Snipe, plenty of Pectoral Sandpiper and an early Dunlin!! This was peak shorebirding!
After moving on from Milverton we went to the West Perth Wetland or the Mitchell Sewage Lagoons. These lagoons were less filled with shorebirds but still gave us all some great looks at Green-winged Teal. The only shorebirds we managed to find were a pair of Wilson Snipe and a beautiful Solitary Sandpiper! Nonetheless, this was still a really nice spot for rounding out the waterfowl we missed at Milverton.
Finally, we ended up in Huron County at the Exeter Sewage Lagoons. This was a great spot and brought my second Marbled Godwit of year following the one I found at the Wainfleet Wetlands! Yet again Lesser Yellowlegs reined supreme with a count of 101 individuals! The more we looked the more birds we found. This included a Black-bellied Plover, a few Stilt Sandpier and a Baird Sandpiper!
After we left the lagoons Liam and I decided to chase down a local sighting of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper near Unity Rd in Caledonia. After searching for what seemed like an hour in the blistering heat, we looked over in the shade behind a house and saw a small sandy coloured spec in the field. That was it! After snapping some really bad pictures of the bird he and I both decided it was time to call it a day, and what a day it was!
The first lagoon was Milverton. That lagoon was packed with Lesser Yellowlegs! 189 individuals in a single cell! Tucked in with them was a Wilson Snipe, plenty of Pectoral Sandpiper and an early Dunlin!! This was peak shorebirding!
After moving on from Milverton we went to the West Perth Wetland or the Mitchell Sewage Lagoons. These lagoons were less filled with shorebirds but still gave us all some great looks at Green-winged Teal. The only shorebirds we managed to find were a pair of Wilson Snipe and a beautiful Solitary Sandpiper! Nonetheless, this was still a really nice spot for rounding out the waterfowl we missed at Milverton.
Finally, we ended up in Huron County at the Exeter Sewage Lagoons. This was a great spot and brought my second Marbled Godwit of year following the one I found at the Wainfleet Wetlands! Yet again Lesser Yellowlegs reined supreme with a count of 101 individuals! The more we looked the more birds we found. This included a Black-bellied Plover, a few Stilt Sandpier and a Baird Sandpiper!
After we left the lagoons Liam and I decided to chase down a local sighting of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper near Unity Rd in Caledonia. After searching for what seemed like an hour in the blistering heat, we looked over in the shade behind a house and saw a small sandy coloured spec in the field. That was it! After snapping some really bad pictures of the bird he and I both decided it was time to call it a day, and what a day it was!
At then end of the day I accumulated 53 species and 16 species of Shorebird! Among these shorebirds I found my 228th and 229th bird species of the year (Baird Sandpiper and Buff-breasted Sandpiper)!
Here are the species I got new for the year in August (bolded birds were lifers for me):
223: Pectoral Sandpiper
224: Black-bellied Plover
224: Black-bellied Plover
225: Sanderling
226: Willet
227: Red Knot
228: Baird Sandpiper
229: Buff-breasted Sandpiper
230: Black Scoter
231: Purple Finch
232: Long-tailed Jaeger
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| This is one of the largest shorebirds in Eastern North America: Willet - Turkey Point, ON |
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| This is one of the larger of the peeps - Pectoral Sandpiper, IDed by its bicoloured bill and bold brown bib - Perth County, ON |
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| This is one bird I always love seeing - Wilson Snipe - Perth County, ON |
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| Solitary Sandpiper - these stary-backed shorebirds are always a treat - Perth County, ON |
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| These large Stilt Sandpiper are often mistake for Lesser Yellowlegs but their bright white supercillium and brown overall colour draw them out of the crowd - Huron County ON |
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| Yet another Marbled Godwit! Absolutely stunning, not to mention HUGE - Huron County, ON |
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| This is a juvenile Red Knot, it doesn't shore the gorgeous colour of the breeding plumage adults unfortunately! - Norfolk County, ON |
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| My first Sanderling of the year was an absolute stunner and is the closest I've ever been to these pretty little birds! - Haldimand County, ON |
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| Black-bellied Plover are the largest plover on this side of North America at a whopping 11.5"! Love seeing these guys come through in the fall! - Niagara County, ON |
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