Curlew Sandpiper

["Carleton Wood" <egardens@inteliport.com>]

	I went to Pea Island this morning specifically to find a Curlew Sandpiper
and guess what? I found one!
	It was approx. 8 tenths of a mile north of the north dike of north pond out
on the salt flats. If you park at about 6 tenths and head northwest it may
be slightly easier to get out there. It was  over on the west side (the
eastern half of the flats are dry) feeding with or in the vicinity of
several Stilt Sandpipers. There is still a good amount of red left in the
breast area, so finding the bird should not be difficult provided it stays
in the area. There were not many birds out there and nothing else
noteworthy. In addition to the Curlew Sandpiper and Stilt Sandpipers there
was a Whimbrel, a couple of Marbled Godwits, Dowitchers, Spotted Sandpipers,
Least, Semi, and Western Sandpipers, Semi-palmated and Black-bellied
Plovers, Yellowlegs, Willets, Oystercatchers...
	The bird was still present at 12:15 when Lee Yoder and I went back out
there and found it again.
	For anyone who has never walked out on the salt flats, it gets real wet and
sticky at times; you need either old tennis shoes or a pair of boots.
Sometimes the mosquitos are bad, but today they were non-existent.
	Jeff Lewis
	Manteo, NC