Had the day off so went to Montezuma from mid morning to mid afternoon
Today.
Even though the heat of summer continues to build fall shorebird migration
has begun
as others have noted. Started at Knox-Marcellus Marsh from Towpath Rd. Road
is dry so not
as bad but still very uneven with giant potholes ("pot"hole is an
understatement in places!!!).LESSER YELLOWLEGS have been very common. I estimated about 200 birds. There were at least a few GREATER YELLOWLEGS but by far LESSER predominate. Also there were several flocks of peeps with many hiding down low in the mud and emergent vegetation. They were all LEAST SANDPIPERS except for 2 nice PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. I could have missed others as there were so many distant birds. There were also many KILLDEER some with young, at least 10 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS around, and 7 DOWITCHER sp. that have been seen and IDed as Long-Billed. They were very distant for me as some looked like they had that "hump" shape but again distance was my problem. I was able to digi-scope these guys through my scope on 70X and got some poor images. If someone can point out any discernable field marks on these dowitchers please share offline to my email address. Photos are below. The CASPIAN TERNS are increasing and at one point I had 22, 17 on the ground and 5 flying around. There were 13 BLACK TERNS. I managed a nice photo of one in flight. In addition to the shorebirds and terns, I had a TUNDRA SWAN!! This bird had a smaller more curved bill, the eye was separate from the bill and most telling was a light yellow dot at the front of the eye!! There was also a TRUMPETER SWAN for comparison. Additionally, the lingering 2 SNOW GEESE continue and I also had a male REDHEAD molting toward its eclipse plumage at Puddler's marsh from Towpath road. Photos are below. Wildlife drive was fairly quiet, lots of MARSH WRENS, the SOLITARY SANDPIPER is back in his spot in that little stream before Larue's and Eaton Marsh has mainly LESSER YELLOWLEGS. For my ebird lists see.... http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30543854 http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30544721 For my photos of the day see... https://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/albums/72157670005509232 Best, Dave Nicosia -- 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/ --
