Sometimes things are slow

With the passing of a storm that dumped rain in the Gallatin Valley and laid a layer of fresh snow in the Hyalites, Sam and I headed out to Cottonwood Reservoir for a little shorebirding. The reservoir was full of Eared Grebes, American Coots and a assortment of waterfowl – all with young. It was a joy to the juvenile Eared Grebes mob theirs parents as they emerge from the bottom with some slimy morsel.

The scene was idyllic except for one minor detail – no shorebirds. Well, hardly any. We managed a few Willet and American Avocet along with 2 Baird’s Sandpipers and a lone Red-necked Phalarope. The reservoir is as full as it was in the spring and the margins are thick with rushes, not the typical mudflats of late summer.