Dear GABbers,

I spent the day in and around Jekyll Island today. As most of you are very well aware of, shorebirding is tide dependent. High Tide today was at 5:39 am and 6:12 pm at the out bar, high tide at the Welcome Center tower is somewhat later. Shorebirding at the tower is best when the mud flats are being covered or uncovered, so an hour or two before and after high tide produces the best shorebirding.

Here is how it went today. Bob Sattelmeyer and John Galvani also were looking with me in the morning. 7:20 am to 9:35 am Blue-winged Teal 7 Hooded Merganser 1 Red-breasted Merganser 3 Double-crested Cormorant 4 Great Blue Heron 1 Snowy Egret 1 Great Egret 3 Capper Rail 5 Black-bellied Plover 30 Semipalmated Plover 526 American Avocet 18 Greater Yellowlegs 3 Willet 8 all seemed to be the Eastern form who spent their time defending territory, being very vocal and interacting with other willets Whimbrel 4 Ruddy Turnstone 3 Western Sandpiper 250+ Least Sandpiper 6 probably more, but not sure about distant birds Dunlin 15 Short-billed Dowitcher 185+ probably underestimated because some were on distant mud banks Some of the birds were in their breeding plumage and all those that I saw were in the Atlantic breeding population. Laughing Gull 1 Forester's Tern 2 Mourning Dove 3 Fish Crow 1 Marsh Wren 1 Northern Cardinal 1 Red-winged Blackbird ?? Boat-tailed Grackle all around 12+

As you can see no Hudsonian Godwits NO GODWITS at all.

I returned to the Welcome Center Tower at 12:44 pm and left at 1:03 pm Low tide was at 12:09 pm at the outer bar, so it was not quite low tide at the tower flats yet.

Great Blue Heron 1 Black-bellied Plover 6 Semipalmated Plover 7 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Willet (eastern form) 6 Whimbrel 3 Western Sandpiper 4 Red-winged Blackbird ?? Boat-tailed Grackle ??

NO GODWITS the counts are all the birds I could see.

I returned to the Welcome Center tower at 3:25 pm - 4:25 pm. I left when the mud flats were nearly covered with water and shorebirds were leaving. I did not count all the birds during this hour, the birds were arriving in small flocks and the birds were never flocked together in species, very hard to count. One thing is for sure, the birds were much more abundant on the incoming tide.

Blue-winged Teal 2 Red-breasted Merganser 3 Double-crested Cormorant 13 Tricolored Heron 1 Great Egret 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Black-bellied Plover many more than earlier in the day Semipalmated Plover many more than earlier American Avocet 15 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Willet many, both Eastern and Western forms Whimbrel 10 Marbled Godwit 1 no doubts about the identification Ruddy Turnstone 3 Western Sandpiper many Least Sandpiper few Dunlin ?? Short-billed Dowitcher Many with only one that could be identified as a Prairie form Laughing Gull 2 Royal Tern 1 Red-winged Blackbird ?? Boat-tailed Grackle 35 + a flock flew in

As you can see, nothing terribly exciting or meriting a trip to the coast (yet).

Campground Feeders I will not list all the species observed, but some nice views of

Northern Parula male and female Yellow-throated Warbler Blue-headed Vireo Ruby-throated Humminbird Black-and-white Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler looking motley half way through their moult White-throated Sparrow still here

The Summer Tanagers and an Ovenbird arrived at Cannon's Point Preserve at the north end of St. Simons Island yesterday.

Gene

Eugene P. Keferl 5280 East Glynn Ave. Brunswick, Georgia 31523

Glynn Co.

(912) 265-0143

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