Greetings All:
Tantalized by Mark Lockwood's reports of White-rumped Sandpipers at
the Lorenzo Rookery (just east of FM 378 on FM 1471) and at the Cone
Playa (to the north and northwest of Cone) and needing a break from
humanity (as represented by shopping for dinner) I headed out for some
impromptu visits.
I did not have the good fortune that Mr. Lockwood had in terms of
numbers (sites are probably better in the morning than during the hot
part of the prevening) but I did have some views of a single, fairly
distant White-rumped Sandpiper at the Lorenzo Rookery Playa. There
were peeps at the Cone Playa but even with my scope set at stun, I
could not make most of them out, save for four Baird's Sandpipers that
ventured rather close to FM 193. I was pleasantly surprised to have a
single Spotted Sandpiper at each site (running a tad late by recent
years' standards) and a good selection of ducks (all three teal) at
the Cone Playa.
Best of all were two Willets, flushed by farm machinery, flying over
the flooded field (playa) just southwest of the intersection of FM 378
and CR 154. These also seemed to be running a bit late (to my mind)
but per Seyffert's book on Panhandle birds perhaps not.
Anthony Hewetson