As for waterbirds, the most notable species this week were Willet, Forster’s Tern, and Parasitic Jaeger! The Willet stayed in the Point’s pond for a few days while the tern and the jaeger passed through the area.
Willet
Forster’s Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
One of the highlight non-waterbird finds this week was an adult Townsend’s Solitare. It dropped in after leaving an Eastern Bluebird flock, to which it made its way out to the “Sharpie stick” (Sharp-shinned Hawk). Other notable species were a LeConte’s Sparrow in the dunes, adult male Red-headed AND Red-bellied Woodpecker, first of the season Northern Shrike, and a first for the count Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
Townsend’s Solitaire
LeConte’s Sparrow
On October 9, we will be participating in eBird’s October Big Day in the hope of seeing as many species of birds within 24 hours as possible. Hopefully, weather conditions will bring more diversity for us to add to both our and eBird’s count.
~ Mario Balitbit, 2021 Fall Waterbird Counter
