Re: Piping Plover at Falls Lake

[Mike Skakuj <mskakuj@nc.rr.com>]

HI,

How could we know if any numbers are going down or up if do not SEE ANY numbers?

So, please if anybody actually count shorebirds, give us some numbers. In my
opinion counting these birds is the best way to find some less numerous species.

Counting actually means  to identify almost every bird. If there is no numbers
("a few" or "several" are not numbers) all of these are only guessing.
Here you are my counts from Sunday and today (18 and 19) from Falls Lake front
of Panther Creek (Sunday with Cynthia Fox and Kent Fiala):

                                           18                            19
Willet                                   1                              0
Killdeer                              47                             28
Semipalmated Pl.             24                            26
Greater Yellowlegs            1 (v)                         3 ad
Lesser Yell.                         2 ad 2 juv             1 ad 2 juv
Solitary Sand.                    7                               2
Spotted Sand.                   1                               1
Stilt Sand.                           24 (2 juv)                 0
Pectoral Sand.                   125                         96
White-rumped Sand          2 ad                          1 ad
Semipalmated Sand.        41                            31 (10 juv)
Lest Sand.                          37                             22 (12 juv)
Short-billed Dowitcher       9 juv                         1 juv

Black Tern                           2 ad 1 juv              2 ad 2 juv

As you see numbers go down. That could be two main reasons: 1 birds just move
south on their migration path, 2 water is still going down, uncover more and
more new mudflats thus birds are more spread on greater area. If you could look
at these mudfalts from the air (as I did today) you could see hundreds of
potential good shorebirds spots. There are nice mud and sandy banks in front of
Little Lick Creek  on both sides of the river and NE from Lake Ridge Airport (E
from Hwy 85 bridge). Anyway we need some weather change, kind of front from NW
would be very welcome.


Mike

Bert Fisher wrote:

> 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

--
************************************************
Michal Skakuj  Ph.D.
4600 University Drive apt. 1312
Durham, NC 27707
phone:        919 402 9961
mobile phone: 919 599 3040