Saturday, September 30, 2017

Roseate Spoonbill among waterbirds at Shrewsbury Flats

Just made a brief swing through the Shrewsbury Flats- the water retention ponds beneath Causeway Boulevard, adjacent to the Earhardt Expressway. 

An immature Roseate Spoonbill was nice, hanging with the 25 or so White Ibis and a scattering of other large waders.

The most surprising bird was a female/immature Hooded Merganser- not a species that was on my radar to turn up here.

The muddy edges are extensive, and shorebird numbers have grown to 80 Least Sandpipers, 35 Black-necked Stilts, and 4 Lesser Yellowlegs.

An adult Common Gallinule was present, which makes it easier to explain the presence of three juveniles that I saw there a few weeks back.  Looks like they nested.

Good birding,

Peter