I swear, no matter what the weather forecast is, that if I set foot at Brig (E.B. Forsythe NWR), it storms. The other uncanny thing is that the sky waits to open up until I find a lifer. Last time it was the Avocet. This time it was the Roseate Spoonbill.

It was a good day. I tallied 20 shorebird species in all. I also spent a good deal of my time trying to get a grasp on the Dowitcher complex. I think I had 3 Long-bills at least, but after reading the article on surfbirds when I got home (http://www.surfbirds.com/ID%20Articles/dowitchers1005/dowitchers.html) I think possibly only 1 was a definite. But the other 2 most likely were based on the difference of structures compared to close-by dowitchers. UPDATE: I just confirmed that Long-bills molt their primaries in migration while Short-bills wait until at wintering grounds. I noted on the one that I believed to be a definite that it was in primary molt when it flew.

My shorebird list is as follows:
Black-bellied Plover- many
Semipalmated Plover- hundreds, if not thousands
Killdeer- 4 as a flyby
American Oystercatchers about 6 to 8
Spotted Sandpiper- 3 juveniles
Greater Yellowlegs- many
Lesser Yellowlegs- many
Willet- 5 or so
Whimbrel- 2 or 3
MARBLED GODWIT- 1 flew into a group of birds by the tower. A lifer for me, but it was pretty far
Ruddy Turnstone- a dozen or two
Red Knot- 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper- thousands
Western Sandpiper- 5 or 6 (year bird)
Least Sandpiper- a bunch
White-rumped Sandpiper- 8 or more
Pectoral Sandpiper- 1
Stilt Sandpiper- 3 (year bird)
Short-billed Dowitcher- a ton
Long-billed Dowitcher- 1 to 3

The non-shorebird highlight of my day was when a Northern Bobwhite walked right out next to my car while I was checking out a group of Semipalms and Leasts looking for goodies.