Focusing on shorebirds, this morning I visited the shallow ponds and mudflats along Desmond Road and Franklin Boulevard, and walked the boardwalk before checking similar habitat behind the Farm Center gate. Good numbers of peeps were seen on the move over the TNC Barn ponds, but I did not check these. The shorebirding was pretty good. The highlight was the best number of black-bellied plovers that I've seen at the preserve since 1998. Here's what I turned up: black-necked stilt- 75 american avocet- 20 black-bellied plover- 129 (all on the county property east of the Love Shack and nearly all close to full alternate plumage) killdeer- 35 semipalmated plover- 1 (along Desmond early; not found 150 minutes later) whimbrel- 2 (early fly-by along Desmond Rd.) dunlin- 55 least sandpiper- 750 western sandpiper- 180 short-billed dowitcher- 1 ( heard on the county property among a flushed flock of some 45 dowitchers but not with certainty visually picked out) long-billed dowitcher- 240 Wilson's snipe- 4 lesser yellowlegs- 3 (all on the county property) greater yellowlegs- 70
A merlin flew by in review over the county property also, but made no pass at the shorebirds beneath her. She disappeared out of sight heading almost due north.
This Saturday is the next Tall Forest bird survey. Preserve staff ask that you sign up on the website, www.cosumnes.org. Click the events button and you'll see the survey listed among the Saturday goings on. I expect that most of the shorebird habitat now behind the Farm Center gate will dry out before then, but some should remain. We'll certainly look. We will depart through the locked gate at the corner of Bruceville and Desmond Roads promptly at 5:30 a.m. Bring mosquito repellent (though they haven't been bad yet) and rubber knee boots. It will be a close run thing trying to get to the Accidental Forest and across the berm into the southern Tall Forest proper, since the river is still just out of its banks in the survey area. The forecast is for a high temperature near 80 degrees, and some of us may opt to wade over our boots to get to these places.
