Some Black Terns and another surprise!

Tweet I finally made it out to East Fork SP on Labor Day to look for any birds that might have been blown it from the remnants of Hurricane Issac.  I got excited when I spotted some interesting birds way out.  As they got closer, I noticed that they were Black Terns.  They always get me excited because they are more seabird looking then our other terns.  Here is some photos that show what I mean.

Here they are far up in the sky.  They don't even look like typical terns.  They are so small.

Here is a slightly closer view.

Here, the bird looks a little more tern like.  And when the bird is perched on land, it looks all tern like.

They are the tern that I see the least out of all our four tern species expected in SW Ohio.

Tuesday Morning, I went back to see if I could find anything new.  The only terns remaining out of the Caspian, Common, and Blacks were the Black Terns.  I didn't notice anything different except for the addition of a first of season Blue-winged Teal flyby.

I then noticed a shorebird hanging with the many Killdeer in the grass up from the beach.  I thought Lesser Yellowlegs and just continued on.  While walking back to the car, I saw it again and said to myself "this is something different."  The bird looked and behaved differently to me.  I then began to think Stilt Sandpiper.  I thought, why would one be so far from the water in the grass?  I don't know.  It seemed to like the grass and sidewalks.

Here is the only picture I was able to get that is identifiable.  The bird was skittish and did not allow for close approach.  The lighting was not good with light mist.

 

I only had limited experience with this bird.  All my previous views of this bird was through a scope at a much farther distance.  Thanks to the birders on the Facebook Group Birding Ohio for confirming the ID of this bird as a Stilt Sandpiper. 

9/5 Update:  The Stilt Sandpiper still remains.  It appears to me to have an injured right wing.  Here are some better pics of the bird from this morning.

Walking down the sidewalk was common for this bird.

You never know what you'll find during Fall migration!  

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