Laguna Blanca - Solitary moment!!

11/10

Today I was helping Catherine (CAN) gather pitfall buckets so that she can set up pitfall lines in the Cerrado. There were two lines of buckets in the vicinity of the seasonal pond which would be ideal for this use.

The morning would involve shuttles to and from the Seasonal Pond laden with 35L buckets. There was little time to bird but I kept my eyes peeled for anything unusual along the Lagoon edge and on the pond. We took a short cut to avoid the swamp by the lagoon and walked into a wasps nest with some very angry occupants!! A short run and a few stings later we were both in the clear and after a brush down of the hangers on we continued on to the Pond.

A Swallow-tailed Kite was seen over the pond and Atlantic Forest and as we were piling up the buckets at the head of the path I spotted a shorebird bobbing its tail on the edge of the pond. I did not have binos but the jizz of the bird suggested a Solitary Sandpiper! The walk back to the base with the buckets was as swift as possible and the return with camera and binos was even quicker.

The bird was still present and the species was confirmed as a Solitary Sandpiper. After a few pictures we both made a quiet retreat from the area leaving the bird to rest before continuing its journey.

The wind became very strong in the afternoon with a cloud front approaching! Will the storm bring anything else down onto the reserve!

The storm did not arrive but the Sandpiper was seen along the beach this morning.