Common Nighthawks moving through ~ August 26-29, 2021

The last two evenings I birded from the backyard and got to see numbers of Common Nighthawks as they flew south. Thursday evening, I spotted eleven of them, including one group of seven. Friday evening, six birds were seen that included a line of five. Then on Sunday night, another 21 birds were spotted from the yard. I got several mediocre photos of some of them in the fading light.

Photos from August 26th

Photos from August 27th

Photos from August 29th

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Semipalmated Sandpiper at Green Pond ~ August 17-18, 2021

The retention pond along Green Pond Road continued to provide good shorebird habitat. Yesterday, I found a Semipalmated Sandpiper feeding among 36 Least Sandpipers, 23 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Solitary Sandpiper, and a Great Blue Heron. Today, I refound the bird, which was much closer and allowed me to get some better photos.

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TWO Wilson's Phalaropes at Green Pond ~ August 13, 2021

After the find of a Wilson's Phalarope on the 8th, I got a text from Adam Miller that he had found TWO of them at the same retention pond along Green Pond Road. I drove over there and got a few photos of both Wilson’s Phalaropes.

I also lucky enough to get some flight shots of one of them as it flew from one side of the pond to the other.

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Wilson's Phalarope at Green Pond ~ August 8, 2021

During a quick stop at the retention pond along Green Pond Road, I found a juvenile Wilson’s Phalarope feeding among 22 Lesser Yellowlegs. Unfortunately, I only had my old binoculars in the car and wasn’t 100% sure of the ID using them, so I went home and got my gear and headed back out there. Luckily, the bird was still there and, after scoping it and getting some photos, I got the word out to some of the "locals". In the early evening, Adam Miller and Mike and Corrine Schall also saw the bird, which by that time had unfortunately flown to one of the other retention ponds that is not accessible by road. I managed to get some fairly good documentation photos of it despite the harsh sunlight.

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