Stebbins Refuge Morning Walk

Eleven people showed up for today’s trip to bird Stebbins Refuge and the flooded flats on West Road.  The weather was sunny and temps in the 70s with a light breeze, or most would say, PERFECT!

We picked up the usual species of songbirds along Pondside and 18 Mallards feeding in the road, until our approach pushed them back into the pond.

West Road gave us the highlight birds.  There were Lesser Yellowlegs feeding apart from a sole Greater, two Pectoral Sandpipers, many Least Sandpipers and someone spotted a Semi.  We counted eight Killdeer and one or two Semi-palmated Plover.  There were three Great Blue Herons and one Green, as well as Great Egret and Snowy Egret.  A small pool on the river side of West Rd held a couple of Solitary Sandpipers, and from the adjacent tall, wet grasses we heard the call of a Virginia Rail.  The leader caught what would be the best bird of the day by ear, the call of a Golden Plover flying over, but it did not land for us to scope him out.