Lark Sparrow at Moraine View State Park

On Thursday, May 28, I left work early, and went to Moraine View State Park since I would be working a long day on Saturday. I started out at the prairie South of 900 Rd and East of the horse stables, where Wayne Hochstetler had reported seeing Blue Grosbeak. I did not hear or see any Blue Grosbeaks, but I had Dickcissel, Field Sparrow, and Eastern Kingbird. When I got close to the end of the prairie where the trail goes into the woods to the South, I noticed an Olive-sided Flycatcher on top of a tree with bare limbs.



I turned around when I got to the woods, but found a Rose-breasted Grosbeak singing in another hedge of trees along the South end of the prairie.



When I got back to the horse buildings, I saw this Lark Sparrow fly from the grass into a tree in the yard in front of the horse buildings. Then it flew to the gravel to the West of the horse buildings, where I was able to photograph it. This was probably either the same bird Wayne Hochstetler, Les Allen, and I found on the Spring Bird Count, or it's mate.







After photographing the Lark Sparrow, I drove toward the dam with my windows down. On the way to the trail by the dam, I heard Acadian Flycatcher and Tufted Titmouse singing. I hiked the trail by the dam to look for Louisiana Waterthrush. I did not see Louisiana Waterthrush, but I heard Red-eyed Vireo, Eastern Wood-pewee, and more Acadian Flycatchers singing. Then I heard and saw a Pileated Woodpecker.

Next I hiked the Tanglewood trail where I saw Baltimore Oriole, Great Crested Flycatcher, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Eastern Towhee, and Eastern Bluebird.



I also heard Barred Owl, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Warbling Vireo, and Indigo Bunting.

White-rumped Sandpiper, Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstone, and Semipalmated Plover at the El Paso Sewage Treatment Center

On Tuesday, May 26, after work, I returned to the El Paso Sewage Treatment Center yet again. As I approached the Northwest lagoon, I first noticed this pair of Northern Shovelers resting in front of several feeding Semipalmated Sandpipers.



Then I noticed this Dunlin.



The Dunlin was hanging out with a White-rumped Sandpiper.









Here is another photo of the Dunlin by itself.



The Ruddy Turnstone was also still present.









The next day, the turnstone was gone, but the White-rumped Sandpiper, the Dunlin, and the Semipalmated Plover were still present. Here is the White-rumped Sandpiper.







Here is the White-rumped on the left with a Semipalmated Sandpiper on the right.



The white rump for which this bird is named is visible between the wings in this shot.



Here are several shots of the Semipalmated Plover, which continued to entertain.











And finally, here is the remaining Dunlin.

Semipalmated Plover, Dunlin, and Ruddy Turnstone at El Paso Sewage Treatment Center

When I returned to El Paso on Monday, there were a couple of Dunlin remaining.





Only one of the Ruddy Turnstones was still around. The other two had left, apparently.





It was interesting to see how small this shorebird looked standing next to a European Starling.





This Killdeer was looking dapper.



Here is one of the Semipalmated Sandpipers present.



But perhaps the bird I most enjoyed photographing was this Semipalmated Plover since this was the first I had seen in a while.

Three Ruddy Turnstones at El Paso Sewage Treatment Center

The morning after seeing the two Ruddy Turnstones and the Red-necked Phalarope, I went back to see them again with Wayne Hochstetler. This time, the phalarope was gone, but there was an additional turnstone. So now their were three Ruddy Turnstones.









Other shorebirds present included 10 Spotted Sandpipers, 12 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and 24 Dunlin.

Ruddy Turnstones and Red-necked Phalarope at the El Paso Sewage Treatment Center

After work on Friday, May 22, I went to Ewing Park to look for Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. I got a couple glimpses of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo way up in the canopy, and I was looking for the flycatcher when I received a call from Matthew Cvetas asking if I had intel on 5 Red-necked Grebes that had been seen the previous day at the El Paso Sewage Treatment Center. I checked ebird and called Ted Hartzler to learn that not only was one of the Red-necked Phalarope there, but there were also two Ruddy Turnstones present.

I hiked back to my car and drove straight to El Paso where I ran into Don Hartzler. We saw 25 Dunlin, 12 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a Stilt Sandpiper in the Northwest lagoon. Although the first photo is blurred by the haze, you can see what a beautifully patterned bird the Stilt Sandpiper was.





We found the remaining Red-necked Phalarope, the first I had ever seen in breeding plumage, in the center lagoon.





When we checked the Northwest lagoon again, we located the Ruddy Turnstone pair.











Here is a photo of the two Turnstones with a Dunlin and a Semipalmated Sandpiper.



I thought this photo of the Red-necked Phalarope next to a Ruddy Duck illustrated how small the Red-necked Phalaropes actually are.



Other shorebirds we saw at El Paso that evening included 1 Semipalmated Plover, 6 Killdeer, 6 Spotted Sandpipers, and 4 Least Sandpipers. Also of interest were 1 Blue-winged Teal, 1 Lesser Scaup, 2 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Black Terns, and an American Pipit.