Shorebird School 3

Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus

Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes

Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes

Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos

Sanderling Calidris alba

Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus

Mucking through the muck

Mr. Extreme gets real low

How benches are made

Camping Domaine Florent, Sept 19, 2021

  On the northern banks of Lake Champlain lies Camping Domaine Florent. The place is a curious blend of summer residences that felt like the passengers on a cut-rate cruise ship had washed ashore and decided to form their very own dystopia.

  I went there with George and Ben on Sunday to walk through the mud and scope out the shorebirds. We logged 12 species of shorebird (among 50+ species on the day), and there were lifers for all, huzzah. The rock star bird of the day was the Long-billed Dowitcher, which was also a rock star bird in Korea.

  It was neat to be able to walk down the beach taking in the shorebirds, then walk back through the woods, picking through the confusing fall warblers.

  My eyeholes still burn a bit from all that sun. That’s what I get for mutating into a nocturnal creature.

Belated T-parc stuff

Olive-sided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi
(Which had me thinking 'Shrike' in the bad light until we got closer...)

American Goldfinch Spinus tristis

Magnolia Warbler Setophaga magnolia

Magnolia Warbler Setophaga magnolia

Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria

Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca

Monarch Field, where 'they' want to pave paradise
to put up a mask factory

The spot where the main swamp was 'accidentally'
drained by some evil tunnel-boring machine

Technoparc, August 28, 2021

  Hit the Technoparc two weekends ago with George, and got about 50 species in a few hours. The sites at the Technoparc are so large and spread out, it was my first time visiting a couple of them. Monarch Field, a lovely overgrown field fringed by forest edge was by far the birdiest spot of the day. We had decent warbler diversity there, as well as an Olive-sided Flycatcher. It looked very bull-headed, and initially had me thinking Shrike until we got right up on it.

  Oh yeah, Monarch Field happens to be where ‘they’ want to build a disposable mask factory. Not one of the many available sites in the industrial park next door. Right there, in the best little spot around for flora and fauna. ‘They’ suck. Welcome to Wump World.

  Later, at some pond, we found an American Goldfinch that died after getting stuck to burrs. Pretty gruesome.

  Overall, my birding skills were really not sharp on the day, and seem to be getting duller with time. I guess I need to sleep, or focus more.