Ken Kemphues and I drove up the lake yesterday see what we could find. With the Loon Watch just two weeks away, I was curious to see what there was in the way of loons and grebes - and ducks, on the lake.
We had a couple of Common Loons at Long point SP and a few more in Aurora Bay. No grebes and no ducks beyond some Mallards and Common Mergansers. Ken did have a late-migrating Blackpoll Warbler at Long Point. Other than that, we had nothing of great interest until we got to the visitor’s center at the refuge. The V.C. pool held enough water for numerous Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal and enough shallower water for at least 15 Long-billed Dowitchers. The main pool is flooded to maximum depth with abundant forage for several thousand ducks. Many of the ducks were obscured by the standing vegetation, but we could easily see most of the expected overwintering species: Redhead, Canvasback, Ring-necked, Greater and Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon, Ruddy Ducks, and Green-winged Teal. >From there we went to check on the large flock of Sandhill Cranes that had >been reported at Armitage Road and were a little disappointed to find that the >field was empty! That feeling changed when we stopped at the bottom of the >hill to scope the flooded cornfields. In addition to at least three families >of Trumpeter Swans, we found scores of yellowlegs, a couple of Pectoral and >Least Sandpipers, more than a dozen Dunlin, and an interesting-looking >pluvialis plover. It did not feel right for Black-bellied. The shape was off, >and the bill was somewhat small. We waited for over half an hour until it >finally took off - and showed solid gray underwings (no black “armpits”). >American Golden-Plover! While we waited on the shorebirds, a large flock of Starlings that had been feeding in the cornfields up the road went airborne, put up by a passing Peregrine Falcon. After a couple of minutes of murmurations the Peregrine left, and the blackbirds settled in to the neighboring trees. At that point we discovered that at least 250 of the birds were Brown-headed Cowbirds, with only an occasional Red-wing thrown in. We drove down East Road on the way back, and that is where we found the cranes. Some were obscured by vegetation, but we were able to count at least 60. In conclusion - the loons are still somewhere to the north, but the ducks are beginning to move in. The next few weeks are going to be interesting. Bob -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
