From Donna Kuhn:
It was a beautiful day with northwest breezes and temperatures in the 70s. We met at the Shoppes at Worthington and headed for the Wendy’s in Lodi were we picked up another participant. After waiting inside Wendy’s for about 5 minutes, I texted the other participant, who informed me he was waiting by my car! What would we do without modern technology?
We continued the long drive to the Conneaut sandspit, a renowned location for migrating shorebirds. After all, July is fall in bird-world! On arrival, a few minutes after 9AM, we learned it pays to be old, as we were given a senior citizen discount! After paying our $3, we drove along the beach, past some windsurfers.
Unfortunately, birds were scarce. We relocated an injured Willet, with its deformed leg. The Willet flew across the pond displaying the distinctive black and white stripes on its underwings.
We saw some Sanderlings and Semipalmated Sandpipers feeding along the water’s edge on the public beach. A dead tree hosted four Belted Kingfishers, an interesting sight. As usual for Conneaut, a few eagles dotted the break walls along with lots of Ring-billed Gulls and a few Herring Gulls. We walked the length of the beach, but no new birds arrived.
After lunch we decided to head to Wilderness Road in Wayne County. Luckily, it had a greater variety and larger numbers of shorebirds. Â We watched Short-billed Dowitchers probing the mud with their long thick bills. Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plovers and Least Sandpipers were feeding on the mud flats. Three Sandhill Cranes provided distant scope views. There are multiple spots to check with a good amount of wetland.
We made a brief stop at Killbuck Marsh where we saw an Eastern Phoebe, a couple Wood Ducks and Green Herons, before deciding to head for home.
53 species for the trip, including 11 different species of shorebirds:
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red Tailed Hawk
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Sandhill Crane
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Sanderling
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
American Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow