Bring on the Funk! #91 - #93

Morning service was over, lunch was settled comfortably in the belly and the hope of never-before-seen shorebirds called to me from afar. Borrowing my friend's spotting scope added to the savor. Leaving at 2:00 from Winesburg I arrived about a half hour later at Wilderness Road in the Funk Bottoms Wilderness Area. What a sight! I counted about 100+ Canada Geese, 300-500+ Killdeer, a half dozen Great Blue Herons, a Great Egret, a pair of American Kestrel perching on the wires and several types of my target birds: sandpipers and wading shorebirds.

The time just flew by (no pun intended), as so often happens when birding, especially when birding new birds. The dizzying similarity of shorebirds along with the hot mid-day sun and the constant looking through scope and binoculars...PHEW! (So worth it). In the end I feel confident that I was able to accurately identify three new lifers: Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitcher (pictured below in the same order).



Lesser Yellowlegs, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Pectoral Sandpiper, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Short-billed Dowitcher, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Three fine birds all, and not too bad for three hours work. It was 5:00 when I finally packed it in feeling quite dehydrated. A short trip later and I had an Arizona Tea in one hand and a Frosty Twin in the other. Yeah, that's how we roll. Bird on.


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Photo Credits:

Lesser Yellowlegs - Mdf
Pectoral Sandpiper - Andreas Trepte
Short-billed Dowitcher - Mike Baird