Some serious shorebird migration

We've had quite the display of migrating shorebirds lately, especially at Colyer Lake near State College. On Saturday, we had a big rainstorm and there were literally hundreds of peeps!



Unfortunately, I only had the chance to go and peer through the binocs of others -- I was working and had left my gear at home. Still, I got to see quite a good number of species and in rather large numbers.



Here is the list:

Canada Goose 4

Mallard 6

Great Blue Heron 1

Semipalmated Plover 8

Killdeer 6

American Avocet 1

Spotted Sandpiper 2

Solitary Sandpiper 1

Lesser Yellowlegs 60

Semipalmated Sandpiper 4

Least Sandpiper 2

Pectoral Sandpiper 18

Short-billed Dowitcher 24

Barn Swallow 3

Song Sparrow 2



At one point, a flock of over 100 shorebirds -- mostly the SBDOs -- wheeled overhead and landed. For this area, that many shorebirds was practically a record-setting fallout. Certainly, the SBDOs and the avocet are considered rarities here, which is why I took the detour from work. It was well worth it; the SBDO was lifebird number 300 for me, and I'd seen an American Avocet only once before, in Texas, and it wasn't in breeding plumage. This one was; one of my birding heroes Joe Verica took a photo:

Photo by Joe Verica

Notice all the birds! Pretty awesome. Needless to say, I did NOT ID all those peeps. I confess that Joe shared his eBird list with me and I just edited out the birds I knew I didn't see.



Sadly, the rain cleared up that night and by morning, the birds were gone.