More Fall Migration

So both Winthrop and Plum Island continue to hold great birds. On Plum yesterday Geoff Woods and myself had 9 Red Knot, its the first time in a few years I have had this many together. Nahant Beach had somewhere between 2000 & 2500 birds the other day, I think also a high number in recent years. The status of our migratory birds is reaching or has reached critical levels. Areas that once held vast flocks of birds have dwindled down to nothing. With my job affording me the ability to be out everyday observing birds, it's a real wake up for the status of shorebirds. The "large" flocks of Semipalmated Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plover only hold small numbers of White-rumped Sandpipers, Dunlin, and Sanderling.

                                                                     Red Knot

                                                                  Least Sandpiper

                                                        Semipalmated Sandpiper

                                                                    Greater Yellowlegs

                                                              Black-bellied Plover

                                                               Feeding in Algae

                                                       "Peeps" Semi-Plover forefront