[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Saturday
Large variety of ducks along the drive; BW Teal, GW Teal, Mallard, Black Duck, Shoveler, Gadwall, Pintail, Ring-necked, Redhead, Coots PB Grebes C. Merganser. Both Ibises were still at Benning Marsh (but had moved back into the marshy brush, west of the open water). 6 Snow Bunting were along the road near the photo blind area. Knox-Marsellus had the “usual”, Am White Pelicans are still there, couple Sandhill Cranes, about 100 Snow Geese (no Ross’s positively ID’d). Lots of Canada Geese, assorted ducks, Yellowlegs (Greater?), 26 Swans (3 were Trumpeters with green wing tags - unable to tell about the rest). Couple Great Egrets still around, Pileated Woodpecker (Towpath Rd), a Rusty Blackbird, assorted sparrows (WC, WT, Song, Tree, Field). South Spring Pool was pretty barren (winds rain had picked up) but did have a Wood Duck, Belted Kingfisher, Winter Wren. Sent from Windows Mail -- 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Saturday/Sunday
I drove up to Montezuma later yesterday afternoon, checked a few of the favorite birding locales, then spent the night on Howland Island in order to be up at the crack of dawn to record the dawn chorus. I have nothing of note to report from yesterday. Shorebird numbers seemed to be way down at Knox-Marsellus. Contrary to reports I had heard, neither of the ponds at the MAC have been drawn down, and there was no shorebird habitat to speak of. The pond at Marten's Tract was covered with duckweed and was empty save for two Wood Ducks and a Great Blue Heron - although a Black-crowned Night-Heron flew up out of the cattails as I walked past. There is an attractive new viewing platform overlooking the deep muck off Savannah-Spring Lake Road. But, for now, it looks over a small patch of water and just a couple of Great Blues. Van Dyne Spoor Road - the so-called Sandhill Crane Unit - was also fairly uninteresting, with a few Coots, Gallinules, and Pied-billed Grebes close to the road. I did have an American Bittern fly in around 7:45 pm. Several Great Egrets came in from the south to a roost that is hidden deep in the cattails. And several flocks of Red-winged blackbirds, numbering in the hundreds each, came in to roost. I parked overnight at the iron bridge, the southern approach to Howland Island. The night was remarkably quiet - few insects and an occasional Barred Owl call. Hoping for some sort of dawn chorus, I was up and across the bridge by 5:30. The first birds to call were the Mourning Doves, but then it was a long half hour before anything else chimed in. This time it was a couple of Eastern Wood-Pewees. I walked the eastern loop, along warbler way, past several of the ponds, and back out to the main N/S road. All in all, I encountered only two feeding flocks and was able to note PIne and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Ovenbird, a couple of American Redstarts, two Tanagers, a couple of Wood Thrushes and Chickadees, Titmice, and Nuthatches. I did get a good recording of the Wood-Pewee's pureee call but nothing beyond that. Bugs were only a small problem, with more black flies than mosquitoes. On the way back I stopped off at Knox-Marsellus as viewed from Towpath Road. With the morning light coming in from the east, the mud flats were easy to scan although most of the birds were well to the north. The mix of birds was in constant flux due to the presence of one, then two, juvenile Peregrine Falcons, joined at one point by a Merlin. I never saw any of the falcons actually catch anything, and eventually they disappeared. I was able to pick out one Black-bellied Plover but could not find the Wilson's Phalarope nor the Golden-Plover that were reported yesterday. My consolation prize was a pair of BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS seen foraging in the short grass at the edge of the mud, way off to the east, up against the loosestrife. They would flush along with the other shorebirds as the falcons passed, but then return to exactly the same spot to continue feeding. Bob McGuire -- 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Saturday
Susan Danskin and I met Stu Krasnoff at the MNWR visitor's center this morning and then explored the refuge and DEC lands farther north. The only shorebirds we encountered (other than the local breeders - Spotted Sandpipers) were on the flats just south of the Thruway, at the bend in Rt 90 (Kipp's Island???) - a distant group of 2 Greater Yellowlegs, one Black-bellied Plover, and a dozen Dunlin. We missed the Glossy Ibis at Knox- Marsellus the first time around. It was likely foraging along the west shore, hidden by the grass. Only after a call from John and Karen Confer did we return and pick it out immediately. Other birds of particular interest were a couple of juvenile Black-crowned Night-Herons on Van Dyne Spoor Road - brief views as they shuttled from one part of the marsh to another, a pair of Sandhill Cranes seen in the distance from Carncross Road, over a dozen Black Terns at Tschache Pool, and an elusive Orchard Oriole at the beginning of Towpath Road. Bob McGuire -- 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Saturday
Just a quick not to say that as far as I know, no one relocated the Curlew Sandpiper yesterday. The Buff-breasted was seen, in the morning and then just before dusk, out on the mud peninsulas best viewed from East Road. Jay -- 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/ --
