A trio of young Waxwings appeared in one of the lilac trees at the edge of the yard this evening, huddled together and half asleep while waiting for their parents to return with a meal.

Mitchell was quiet but filled with a decent number of shorebirds. Lesser and at least one Greater Yellowlegs, Least, Stilt, White-rumped and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Killdeer and Semipalmated Plover were all present. A juvenile Bald Eagle soared past not long after my arrival. Activity picked up significantly when an adult Peregrine appeared and began targeting the Yellowlegs. The smaller shorebirds either departed or held tight close to the rocky shoreline, while the Yellowlegs and Stilt Sandpipers gathered in a tight flock in the center of one of the lagoons. The Peregine repeatedly circled overhead, waiting for its quarry to settle a bit, then rocketed toward the panicked flock. No strikes, but the falcon was still harrassing its quarry when I left.

While countryside is by far the best environment for birding, one thing I don’t experience in my rural area is the relative tameness exhibited by inner-city wildlife. The perimeter of Rattray was lined with scores of herons - Great Blues, Black-crowned Night Herons and Great Egrets, all going about their business without paying the human visitors much heed. It’s quite a change from the shy GBHs I’m used to.

The reported Eastern Willet showed well when I first arrived, but eventually moved to the back part of the island where it could not be seen. Killdeer, Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plovers and Pectoral Sandpipers kept me occupied after its disappearance.

I headed up to the Holland Landing sewage lagoons this afternoon for a look at an American Avocet that has been hanging around since the beginning of this week. I managed to get in a page of sketches before Ernesto spilled another bucket of rain and left me soaking wet.