We hiked out to the west end of Island Park Res. today for some shorebirding. There wasn’t much out there but we did have a group of five Sanderlings, I think the most I’ve seen up here at one time. There was also a group of Long-billed Dowitchers but we couldn’t make any of them into Short-billeds, try as we might. A Wilson’s Snipe, a pair of Long-billed Curlews and a few Willets were the only other shorebirds we saw. Three days ago we had a good sized flock of American Avocets, five Black-necked Stilts (not terribly common up here), and a few Killdeer.

On our way home we had three Lesser Yellowlegs and fifteen or so Wilson’s Phalaropes on a snow melt pond out in the sagebrush. The next couple weeks will be prime time for shorebirds here so I’ll try to get out there a few more times.

Cliff

—
Cliff and Lisa Weisse
Island Park, Idaho
cliffandlisa@…