It was a dark and stormy Thursday afternoon. I received an ARBird post from Kenny Nichols. Despite, or perhaps because of, the weather he was out at BKNWR birding and seeing all kinds of notable birds including Hudsonian Godwits, Whimbrels, plovers, sandpipers, and five species of tern. I had planned to go there Saturday morning but his sightings made me think I ought to go Friday evening instead. The rain was supposed to last till the early morning and conventional wisdom said that the weather ought to keep the birds on the ground until the night after the rain stops. So there was a reasonable chance they would be here till Friday evening. Then at about 3 PM, the Sun came out. I knew the birds would like fly away tonight so I decided to make a speed run up there after work despite the rush hour traffic. Sam elected to go with me.
We got there about 6:20 PM. There wasn’t time for a extensive survey so we went to the best spots I was familiar with. In short order, we saw plenty Dunlin, Black-necked Stilt, Black Tern, Least Tern, one Wilson’s Snipe, and after an hour’s review 4 Whimbrel and as we were leaving one Hudsonian Godwit which was a life bird for both of us.
We then went home and watched the season finale of Friinge, DVR’d from earlier in the evening.
