Black-bellied Plover

[Roostertael at aol dot com]

I was determined to see a BB plover before they left the area. I went to AIC early this morning with the idea if I had to walk a mile to see them I would. When I got to the water on the south of the causeway, all you could see were black-bellied plovers. There must have been between 1 and 2 thousand. I counted 25 in a patch and then tried to guess the amount. It took the fun out of looking for them, but what a sight. 

That gave me more time to look for a dunlin. I figured that it was like the horned grebe. If you look at ten thousand you are bound to see one. Well, it wasn't too far from that mark when I finally found one. I made the mistake of looking for the black belly instead of the reddish back. I found one around milepost 4.

I got to the causeway at about 7:15 and left at 10:30. There were still about 500 to 1000 black-bellied plovers at mile 6 when I left.      Jack