Upland Sandpiper St. Clair county

[Russell Emmons]

Yesterday the 6th while doing MBBA2 Atlasing in St. Clair Twp. west of Marysville and the city of St. Clair I came upon what I'm 90% sure was an Upland Sandpiper!  This bird was in an isolated typical UPSA type field similiar to the fields up north where we see them regularly. In this field Eastern Kingbirds were present which I find is almost always the case whenever UPSAs are found! Years ago this was one area that now & then had an UPSA.  Nowadays UPSAs are few & far between in this county and this part of the state. This field was adjacent to I/94 on the west side and just to the south & west of Exit 262. The field can only be accessed off a cul-de-sac that dead ends at I/94. At this dead end is a tall cell tower and another pipeline or electric installation.  Exit at 262, head south on Wadhams Rd. to Rattle Run Rd., turn right (west), cross over the freeway and immediately turn right (north) on Stein Rd. Take Stein a short distance to Hyslop Rd., turn right (east) and follow til the dead end at I/94.  I saw the bird perched on a short shrub just to the west of the cell tower fence. A Red Tail Hawk flew over and in the blink of an eye the Sandpiper  disappeared in the tall grass. I did see the long thin neck, large eye, short beak, long tail and tan buffy color !  Upon returning later we found no sign of the bird. I will return again in a day or 2 and repost if I see it again . Be advised locals along that road may scrutinize you!
   If anyone does chase this bird and does indeed find & confirm, please post here or e-mail me direct as this will 100% support my Atlas block entry!  Thanks!

   Also at another nearby cul-de-sac dead-end at I/94, in a wooded area we heard an Ovenbird singing! Another not too common bird for this end of the county.  While sitting at the turn around,  a very substantially large woman came out of a house with a Confederate Flag on it and walked up to us with a cell phone and in no uncertain terms asked what the h*** we were doing! We showed her our forms & paperwork which seemed to satisfy her. Seems just a few nights ago someone drugged their dogs, broke into their home and burglarized it!  These 2 scenarios are becoming all too common around here and other areas in recent years!

     We are still seeing a few Bobolinks here and there but most seem to have moved on already!

Russ Emmons, Casco Twp. St. Clair county
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