Ashley and I made a quick loop down around Saylorville this afternoon/evening.
At Polk City Wildlife Area I stumbled into these 2 new butterfly species.
NORTHERN PEARLY-EYE:
DAINTY SULPHUR:
The shorebirds at Jester Park were pretty impressive. With probably over 1000 birds total, we tallied 15 species:
AMERICAN AVOCET (6)
WILLET (4)
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (3)
RUDDY TURNSTONE (3)
SANDERLING (2)
STILT SANDPIPER (3)
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
KILLDEER
LESSER YELLOWLEGS
GREATER YELLOWLEGS
SOLITARY SANDPIPER
SPOTTED SANDPIPER
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
LEAST SANDPIPER
PECTORAL SANDPIPER
Some other birds present included CASPIAN TERNS (4), BLACK TERN (1), and hundreds of AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS.
What was really quite impressive was watching an immature PEREGRINE FALCON catching a Pectoral Sandpiper! Interestingly, the falcon was wearing a red color band on its right leg. Perhaps it was a young bird from a nearby public nest?
