[null, {"document_url": "https://www.shorebirder.com/2010/07/jul-15-south-beach-ma.html", "unformatted_src": "//4.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqj1cyRWI/AAAAAAAAFE8/27yiLUyyZc8/s400/dows.JPG", "src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqj1cyRWI/AAAAAAAAFE8/27yiLUyyZc8/s400/dows.JPG", "formatted_filename": "dows"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.shorebirder.com/2010/07/jul-15-south-beach-ma.html", "unformatted_src": "//2.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqkLBfP9I/AAAAAAAAFFE/xhF64vQi1As/s400/Hudwit1.JPG", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqkLBfP9I/AAAAAAAAFFE/xhF64vQi1As/s400/Hudwit1.JPG", "formatted_filename": "Hudwit"}, {"document_url": "https://www.shorebirder.com/2010/07/jul-15-south-beach-ma.html", "unformatted_src": "//3.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqkmxCmHI/AAAAAAAAFFM/5Z4HfnbRXus/s400/Hudwit2.JPG", "src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqkmxCmHI/AAAAAAAAFFM/5Z4HfnbRXus/s400/Hudwit2.JPG", "formatted_filename": "Hudwit"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.shorebirder.com/2010/07/jul-15-south-beach-ma.html", "unformatted_src": "//4.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqtezk4PI/AAAAAAAAFFs/oeXp-1nVuw8/s400/Western+Willet.JPG", "src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqtezk4PI/AAAAAAAAFFs/oeXp-1nVuw8/s400/Western+Willet.JPG", "formatted_filename": "Western Willet"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.shorebirder.com/2010/07/jul-15-south-beach-ma.html", "unformatted_src": "//1.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqtj-Ee9I/AAAAAAAAFF0/OsCj8RIMGsg/s400/Whimbrel.JPG", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqtj-Ee9I/AAAAAAAAFF0/OsCj8RIMGsg/s400/Whimbrel.JPG", "formatted_filename": "Whimbrel"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.shorebirder.com/2010/07/jul-15-south-beach-ma.html", "unformatted_src": "//1.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqlLeeutI/AAAAAAAAFFU/YKG3xHXOccE/s400/Knot.JPG", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqlLeeutI/AAAAAAAAFFU/YKG3xHXOccE/s400/Knot.JPG", "formatted_filename": "Knot"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.shorebirder.com/2010/07/jul-15-south-beach-ma.html", "unformatted_src": "//2.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETql750JhI/AAAAAAAAFFc/eRk9XoS66AE/s400/Western1.JPG", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETql750JhI/AAAAAAAAFFc/eRk9XoS66AE/s400/Western1.JPG", "formatted_filename": "Western"}, {"document_url": "https://www.shorebirder.com/2010/07/jul-15-south-beach-ma.html", "unformatted_src": "//4.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqtKgVmCI/AAAAAAAAFFk/c309bzH78cQ/s400/Western2.JPG", "src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V7lFUfj4pxo/TETqtKgVmCI/AAAAAAAAFFk/c309bzH78cQ/s400/Western2.JPG", "formatted_filename": "Western"}, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null]

Jul 15 - South Beach, MA

I spent the afternoon and evening of July 15th birding South Beach, Chatham, MA. This is the premier shorebird location in New England and, arguably, all of the northeast US.

I took the 11:30am shuttle from Outermost Harbor to the beach. High tide was around 3:30pm, and the shuttles stop running at 4:30pm, so walking all the way back was the only way to catch the best shorebirding. I ended up leaving the roosts around 6:15pm and getting back to the car by 8pm.

Here are my shorebird estimates:

275 Black-bellied Plover (mostly basic/first-summer birds)
200 Semipalmated Plover
15 Piping Plover (several juv)
6 American Oystercatcher (adults)
2 Spotted Sandpiper
35 Greater Yellowlegs
125 “Eastern” Willet (two young juv, otherwise all adults)
8 “Western” Willet
1 Lesser Yellowlegs
3 Whimbrel
25 Hudsonian Godwit (highest count of birds in view at one time, but I
suspect there were more around)
13 Ruddy Turnstone
110 Red Knot (two flagged adults; viewed with Mass Audubon's Mo Correll)
40 Sanderling
1100 Semipalmated Sandpiper
3 Western Sandpiper
550 Least Sandpiper
2 White-rumped Sandpiper
1 Pectoral Sandpiper
4 Dunlin (one alternate, 3 basic-plumaged)
1600 Short-billed Dowitchers (at least 30 hendersoni) Short-billed Dowitchers (griseus at left, hendersoni at right) Hudsonian Godwits "Western" Willet. The Willets were particularly interesting to study. I hope to make a Willet-centric blog post soon. poor photo of a flagged Red Knot two roosting Western Sandpipers

Posted by Nick Bonomo at 8:04 PM