willet on the town marker

I'm guessing willets are nesting somewhere in the town marker field on the refuge.  There's been a willet perched on the town marker off and on for a couple of weeks now.  It was there this afternoon.

willet on the town marker

I stopped to take a picture and scan with binocs for any sign of nesting activity. A couple of people on bicycles asked me if it was a sea bird because of the long legs and wondered why it wasn't on the beach. I told them it was a willet. It then obligingly called pill-will-willet a few times.  A small flock of about a half dozen willets erupted from the grass near the north pool and mobbed something I couldn't see. Whatever it was must've gotten out of there quickly because they all settled down immediately.

lot 5 boardwalk

I parked at lot 5 and walked up to the overlook.  Four semipalmated sandpipers foraged at the water line. A whole bunch of great black backs and herring gulls sat loafing in the sand. After about an hour or more, I saw a piping plover fly down to the water from the edge of the dune. Nice bird for the first day of summer.