Monroe Co. Shorebirding - 02 Sep 2004

02 September 2004 Sandy Creek Golf Course, Monroe

1600 Hrs.  Sunny, 80ºF, calm.  Drove down to Monroe to look for shorebirds at the golf course off Exeter Rd in Monroe.  Last year at this time I remembered golfing and seeing lots of unidentifiable shorebirds in the wet spots and the sod farm adjacent to the golf course.  I’m curious to find out if any unique shorebirds are about.  There have been sightings of Black-bellied Plovers and Baird’s Sandpipers at the sod farm in Waltz, so I wonder if anything of interest is in this area.

I drove to Sandy Creek GC and found no activity, so I took the side roads surrounding the golf course to see if any fields might hold birds.  

I turned down Bluebush Rd. and headed east toward Telegraph/Stewart Rd (Meijer Shopping Center) and found a utility road that headed back toward some freshly plowed fields.  The fields held numerous (20-30) Kildeer but that’s about it.  

At the end of the road, however, I came upon the outer edges of the sod farm next to the GC, and lo, tons of shorebirds.  As I slowly exited the car and got my scope I was able to make out numerous Kildeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, 

Short-billed Dowitchers, a few Pectoral Sandpipers, a single Wilson’s Snipe, and my first, official Solitary Sandpiper.  

The lighting was good, so I digiscoped a full 256Mb card of images.  Most images were of the Solitary Sandpiper to show its ‘bold’ white eye-ring, and brownish chest/shoulder markings that abruptly stop at the all-white belly and undersides. 

 

I was also able to make out at least 2 Baird’s Sandpipers, but was unable to get any clean shots.  So many birds this close to me I had trouble deciding which ones to go after.  I never did get a clear count of all the birds, as I was too busy shooting at the few in front of me.  When the lighting got too low I headed home…

Sandy Creek Golf Course, Monroe, Michigan, US
Sep 2, 2004 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Sunny, 80ºF, calm.  Drove down to Monroe to look for shorebirds at the golf course off Exeter Rd in Monroe.  Last year at this time I remembered golfing and seeing lots of unidentifiable shorebirds in the wet spots and the sod farm adjacent to the golf course.  I’m curious to find out if any unique shorebirds are about.  There have been sightings of Black-bellied Plovers and Baird’s Sandpipers at the sod farm in Waltz, so I wonder if anything of interest is in this area.
I drove to Sandy Creek GC and found no activity, so I took the side roads surrounding the golf course to see if any fields might hold birds.  I turned down Bluebush Rd. and headed east toward Telegraph/Stewart Rd (Meijer Shopping Center) and found a utility road that headed back toward some freshly plowed fields.  The fields held numerous (20-30) Kildeer but that’s about it.  At the end of the road, however, I came upon the outer edges of the sod farm next to the GC, and lo, tons of shorebirds.  As I slowly exited the car and got my scope I was able to make out numerous Kildeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitchers, a few Pectoral Sandpipers, a single Wilson’s Snipe, and my first, official Solitary Sandpiper.  The lighting was good, so I digiscoped a full 256Mb card of images.  Most images were of the Solitary Sandpiper to show its ‘bold’ white eye-ring, and brownish chest/shoulder markings that abruptly stop at the all-white belly and undersides.  I was also able to make out at least 2 Baird’s Sandpipers, but was unable to get any clean shots.  So many birds this close to me I had trouble deciding which ones to go after.  I never did get a clear count of all the birds, as I was too busy shooting at the few in front of me.  When the lighting got too low I headed home…
7 species

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  20     20-30 in plowed fields.
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  2
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)  1
Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)  1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)  2
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)  2
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S41717895

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)