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Inland Black Scoter & Spotted Sandpiper



We had the opportunity to bird with some dear friends, Adam & Phyllis Martin
this morning.  (Some of you may know them, as they were the previous leaders
of the Foothills Bird Club, but have since moved to a birder's paradise in
SE Arizona!) We had a Spotted Sandpiper early this morning at Riverbend Park
in northern Catawba County. Isn't it kind of late for them to still be
moving through?   We also had a huge flock (60+) of Cedar Waxwings feeding
on fox grapes high in the Poplar trees.

We had a Common Loon taking flight---a magnificent sight---at Oxford Access
on Lake Hickory.  We didn't see anything at Dusty Ridge Access.  We also
birded at Glenn Hilton Park in Hickory where we had a Sharp-shinned Hawk,
Red-shouldered Hawk, Swamp Sparrow, and a White-breasted Nuthatch amongst
the other usual characters.  We tried for the Eurasian Collared-Doves who
hang out in Conover, but didn't find them.  We wondered if their absence had
anything to do with the power company SEVERELY trimming the trees in which
they like to sit.  Hopefully they were in someone's backyard at a feeder and
not gone!

Then we went by Lookout Shoals Lake before calling it a day----and found the
bird of the day!  We were getting ready to leave when Dwayne thought he'd
scan the distant shore at a "flock" of coots.  Turned out to be three
coots----and a male BLACK SCOTER!!!  His orange knob of a bill really stood
out and made identifying him very easy!  He was very calm when several boats
went by, not moving at all at their wake.  We plan to look for it again this
evening and will let you know if we see him again.

*************************
Dwayne & Lori Martin
Foothills Bird Club
Claremont, NC
dlmartin@twave.net