As the tide reached high, the former group split en masse to the wrack line on the eastern toe of New Sand "Island". In the time it took me to walk around the lagoon and out to the toe, this mass totally vanished. Later in the morning, as Peter and I watched, these came dribbling back, probably from offshore rocks. While some of these returnees began feeding in the lagoon, astonishingly many simply grabbed some more shut-eye, in little throngs.
It was here that I spotted what looked like a Dunlin at first, but was probably a Western S.P. We searched through all the peeps present and couldn't relocate, so I'm not going to add it to my list. Need a photo for these.
Except for a few totals, my list will look much like Peter's. Maybe add a Kestrel. And two different broods of Least Terns: 1 fully flighted juve not being fed by adults, but willing to beg anyway. And two younger fledgelings, one gray, one tan, that I've been following for weeks. They can fly a foot at a time. Adults are offering them fish food, but if they don't grab it soon, the adults swallow it. It's a tough world out there.
But to those who have asked "what's the best time to bird Popham?" There really is no easy answer. On a day like today, these birds are free to wander up the Kennebec system and find plenty of suitable mudflats. They really don't have to be home until 10 P.M. (a curfew related to tide or darkness, whichever comes first.) So they're gone the who-o-o-oo-le day.
On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 4:54 PM, Derek and Jeannette Lovitch <freeportwildbird@yahoo.com> wrote:
Yesterday morning at high tide, I tallied over 1300 shorebirds. The two Merlins arrived. The roost cleared out completely, and birds also began to return only on the falling tide. I believe the majority of them headed offshore and finished their roosting on the various islets.-Derek------------------
Jeannette and Derek Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
Ph: (207)865-6000/Fax: (207)865-6069
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com
Visit our E-store http://store.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/
From: Peter Vickery <petervickery@roadrunner.com>
To: Maine Birds <maine-birds@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 4:50 PM
Subject: [Maine-birds] Popham Beach-Am Golden-Plover, Red Knot, white-rumps, etc...
It was an exquisite morning at Popham Beach, except for a few biting Stable Flies. Things appeared to be completely devoid of shorebirds at high tide (10:15). Mike Fahay, who had arrived earlier, said some 900 peep were present earlier but had disappeared which is not typical at high tide.
As the tide dropped many birds flew into the lagoon - not as many as Mike had seen earlier.
Here's my list, Mike will likely add more:
Black-bellied Plover: 8
American Golden-Plover: 1 shabby adult
Semi Plover: 60
Piping Plover: at least 6, probably 8
Greater Yellowlegs: 1
Whimbrel: 1
Red Knot: 1 juvenile
Sanderling: 12
Semipalmated Sandpiper: 400
Least Sandpiper: 30
White-rumped Sandpiper: 4
Pectoral Sandpiper: 1
Short-billed Dowitcher: 6
An adult Peregrine flushed the shorebirds and they completely vanished.
Three Least Terns, including two close to full size fledglings, very late.
Common Tern: 40
Also:
Chimney Swift
Red-tailed Hawk, a few swallows.
Best, Peter
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