After the Crane Count this morning, Barbara and I headed to Pecatonica to have breakfast with Jack and Joyce Armstrong.  We were pleasantly surprised to find Steve and Jean Gent in the restaurant, too.  All of us had been counting cranes, so we had a chance to discuss our sightings and, particularly, some shorebirds on Telegraph Road. 

About 1 mile east of Pecatonica is an old shallow oxbow that floods in spring and during high water.  This morning, we counted nearly 24 Pectoral Sandpipers (there could have been more out of sight behind the rise) and a small (10?) group of Lesser Yellowlegs.  Jack said that there were 2 small shorebirds which he said looked like Least Sandpipers when he and Joyce stopped there. 

Our count highlights were 12 Sandhill Cranes, 18 flyover DC Cormorants, 1 American Bittern (seen flying and landing near us in the pre-dawn light), 1 Virgina Rail (calling), 6 Soras (all calling), 2 Barred Owls and 1 Pileated Woodpecker.  We were counting at a restored wetland on private property.