The following day, I crossed the Mississippi River into Crittenden Co, AR to check sites that are consistently used by migrating shorebirds. It is amazing to me that even though most of the wet fields look to be the same, some always draw these Wind Birds. Proofing satellite images show most of these sites are old sloughs or river runs showing high iron content in the soil.

The birds were not migrating that day, but just resting in large groups along this one gravel road. Occasionally, a Harrier or Kestrel would cause these flocks of Goldens to swirl up into the air and rush around giving their wonderful whistles. On Sunday, I count 2,125 Golden Plovers, closing the weekend with almost 7,000 Golden-Plovers. You can view this image in original size to better see this string of birds.