shorebird sites - Washtenaw County ================================== From: Mike Sefton To: Bernard Dempsey Subject: Re: [birders] Shorebirding in Ann Arbor Date sent: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:10:04 -0700 (PDT) Hi Bernard, Welcome to Ann Arbor. A lot of the better shorebird spots are not so hot right now, due to excessive rainfall and high water. Many of them, as well as many other spots, are described at this web site: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/ The book "The Birds of Washtenaw County, Michigan" describes many sites and includes a suggested shorebird route. It's available at Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor, and probably at the library. I haven't heard a report from Crosswinds lately; it may be possible that it's suffering from high water. If I were you, I would cruise the dirt roads of the county, particularly the southern half of the county, looking for flooded farm fields, and dry freshly plowed fields, which a lot of shorebirds seem to be using this fall. Also check out some recently discovered sites where we've had Stilt Sand, S-b Dowitcher, White-rumped and Baird's Sands, Red-necked Phalarope, as well as the usual Pecs, Least, Semipals, both yellowlegs, and snipe. These spots are described in the last two weeks worth of Birders@umich posts which are archived at the location described in the Birders@umich FAQ: http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/birders_FAQ.html Best traditional shorebird spots in the county are the Gooding Rd. sod farm, Schneider Rd. pond, Parker and Scio Church Rds. ponds, Avis Farms, and State and Textile Rds. pond, all of which are described and directions provided at Bruce Bowman's web site above. Probably the best site at the moment is the Gooding Rd. sod farm, as the sod absorbs water pretty quickly, providing a number of shallow ponds plus some stripped soil where sod had been harvested. Join us at Washtenaw Audubon for free field trips and programs. Membership is not necessary to attend, though we hope you will join. Programs and field trips are described on our web site: http://www.washtenawaudubon.org Hope to see you in the field or at one of our programs or trips. Best, Mike Sefton --- On Fri, 9/30/11, Bernard Dempsey wrote: From: Bernard Dempsey Subject: [birders] Shorebirding in Ann Arbor To: birders@umich.edu Date: Friday, September 30, 2011, 5:14 PM Hi all! I'm new to Ann Arbor (to Michigan, really), and I was wondering if there are any good shorebirding locations around the Ann Arbor area? Within, say, 30 minutes of driving? Is Crosswinds good at this time of year? Thanks! Bernard