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Piping Plover at Falls Lake



On Sunday, August 18, Les Todd and I observed a Piping Plover at Falls Lake.
Having accessed the lake from Olive Grove Church Road, we proceeded west
(back toward the Cheek Road Bridge) along the lake shore and discovered the
bird on the largest of the sand spits. The bird was visible the entire time
we were in the area (approximately 10:00am - 12:00 noon), and its light
coloration made it stand out quite well.

In addition to the Piping Plover, we also observed 9 Black Terns, as well as
many of the birds which have been regularly reported in recent weeks,
including the following: 

Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Black-bellied Plover
Willet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling (including one that was retaining some breeding plumage)
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper

In general the number of shorebirds seemed to be down somewhat from the
previous weekend, especially the number of Semipalmated Plovers,
Black-bellied Plovers, and Pectoral Sandpipers.

Bert Fisher
Durham, NC