Bob & I went to Montezuma today. No sign of Jay & Co's Little Blue Heron. (Excellent photos, Jay!)
We did see the Plegadis sp at May's Point Pool, best viewed from the roof of Bob's car on NYS 89.
Lots of shorebirds, with the best viewing from Towpath into Puddler's well past the dike.
A scope affords excellent views of all Peeps. Here's the 17 species shorebird list:
American Golden Plover - 8 at Puddlers, 10 at Knox-Marsellus from Towpath close in time but some overlap is possible
Killdeer - visitor center, Knox-Marsellus, Puddler's
Semipalmated Plover - lots at Puddler's
Greater Yellowlegs - few each at visitor center, May's Point Pool (more), Knox-Marsellus
Lesser Yellowlegs - plenty at visitor center, May's Point Pool, Knox-Marsellus, Puddlers, also at North Spring Pool
Solitary Sandpiper - 1 at visitor center
Dowitcher, sp - 15 at Knox-Marsellus, all juveniles, I think, & probably Short-billed but too distant from Towpath
Spotted Sandpiper - 5, Bob said, I think, in Puddlers at the far end of Towpath Rd
Stilt Sandpiper - several at May's Point Pool
Sanderling - 2 each at Knox-Marsellus & Puddlers, all quite white and pretty distant, possible redundancy
Pectoral Sandpiper - plenty at visitor center, May's Point Pool, Knox-Marsellus, Puddlers
Baird's Sandpiper - several at Knox-Marsellus and at Puddlers (phenomenal scope views!)
White-rumped Sandpiper - several at Puddler's (excellent scope views), at least 1 at North Spring Pool
Semipalmated Sandpiper - few at visitor center, North Spring Pool, lots at Knox-Marsellus & (excellent at) Puddlers
Least Sandpiper - same places & proportions as Semipalmated Sandpiper but perhaps fewer
Wilson's Snipe - 2 or more at the back of May's Point Pool
Red-necked Phalarope - 5 at once at Knox-Marsellus; 1 Phalaropus sp from hunter station on NYS 89 north of Goose Haven
The Main Pool is full of water, with ducks flying in & out but totally hidden by smartweed.
A Little Blue Heron could be anywhere. There were several Northern Harriers cruising over the Main Pool,
and at least 4 Savannah Sparrows by the photo blind parking area.
There were at least 3 Osprey over Tschache, and 2 or more others at other locations.
There were at least 2 adult and 4 immature Bald Eagles from Towpath.
May's Point Pool had American Coot, Common Moorhen & Pied-billed Grebe.
Swallows included Barn, Bank, Northern Rough-winged, Tree, and a single female-type Purple Martin by the lock at May's Point.
There were several Caspian Terns as well as the usual mainly Ring-billed, few Herring and individual Great Black-backed Gulls from Towpath.
Great Egret tally included at least 11 at North Spring Pool, 22 at May's Point Pool, and 2 at Main Pool
Untold numbers of Great Blue Herons and Double-crested Cormorants (sorry, eBird), mainly at Tschache, Knox-Marsellus & Puddlers.
Belted Kingfishers at various locations.
Waterfowl included:
Snow Goose - 1 maimed bird at Knox-Marsellus (why don't the Bald Eagles eat it?)
Canada Goose
domestic Greylag Goose - 1 at Larue's
Trumpeter Swans - 4 at Tschache, 1 at May's Point Pool (I did not pick out the Tundra Swan today)
Mallard
American Black Duck
American Wigeon
Northern Pintail - May's Point Pool
Northern Shoveler
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Wood Duck - 1 flying over Main Pool, 1 on log at Tschache
Ring-necked Duck - May's Point Pool
At Stewart Park we also found a few Common Mergansers.
Lots of other stuff around, as expected, but we weren't concentrating on landbirds.
--Dave Nutter
We did see the Plegadis sp at May's Point Pool, best viewed from the roof of Bob's car on NYS 89.
Lots of shorebirds, with the best viewing from Towpath into Puddler's well past the dike.
A scope affords excellent views of all Peeps. Here's the 17 species shorebird list:
American Golden Plover - 8 at Puddlers, 10 at Knox-Marsellus from Towpath close in time but some overlap is possible
Killdeer - visitor center, Knox-Marsellus, Puddler's
Semipalmated Plover - lots at Puddler's
Greater Yellowlegs - few each at visitor center, May's Point Pool (more), Knox-Marsellus
Lesser Yellowlegs - plenty at visitor center, May's Point Pool, Knox-Marsellus, Puddlers, also at North Spring Pool
Solitary Sandpiper - 1 at visitor center
Dowitcher, sp - 15 at Knox-Marsellus, all juveniles, I think, & probably Short-billed but too distant from Towpath
Spotted Sandpiper - 5, Bob said, I think, in Puddlers at the far end of Towpath Rd
Stilt Sandpiper - several at May's Point Pool
Sanderling - 2 each at Knox-Marsellus & Puddlers, all quite white and pretty distant, possible redundancy
Pectoral Sandpiper - plenty at visitor center, May's Point Pool, Knox-Marsellus, Puddlers
Baird's Sandpiper - several at Knox-Marsellus and at Puddlers (phenomenal scope views!)
White-rumped Sandpiper - several at Puddler's (excellent scope views), at least 1 at North Spring Pool
Semipalmated Sandpiper - few at visitor center, North Spring Pool, lots at Knox-Marsellus & (excellent at) Puddlers
Least Sandpiper - same places & proportions as Semipalmated Sandpiper but perhaps fewer
Wilson's Snipe - 2 or more at the back of May's Point Pool
Red-necked Phalarope - 5 at once at Knox-Marsellus; 1 Phalaropus sp from hunter station on NYS 89 north of Goose Haven
The Main Pool is full of water, with ducks flying in & out but totally hidden by smartweed.
A Little Blue Heron could be anywhere. There were several Northern Harriers cruising over the Main Pool,
and at least 4 Savannah Sparrows by the photo blind parking area.
There were at least 3 Osprey over Tschache, and 2 or more others at other locations.
There were at least 2 adult and 4 immature Bald Eagles from Towpath.
May's Point Pool had American Coot, Common Moorhen & Pied-billed Grebe.
Swallows included Barn, Bank, Northern Rough-winged, Tree, and a single female-type Purple Martin by the lock at May's Point.
There were several Caspian Terns as well as the usual mainly Ring-billed, few Herring and individual Great Black-backed Gulls from Towpath.
Great Egret tally included at least 11 at North Spring Pool, 22 at May's Point Pool, and 2 at Main Pool
Untold numbers of Great Blue Herons and Double-crested Cormorants (sorry, eBird), mainly at Tschache, Knox-Marsellus & Puddlers.
Belted Kingfishers at various locations.
Waterfowl included:
Snow Goose - 1 maimed bird at Knox-Marsellus (why don't the Bald Eagles eat it?)
Canada Goose
domestic Greylag Goose - 1 at Larue's
Trumpeter Swans - 4 at Tschache, 1 at May's Point Pool (I did not pick out the Tundra Swan today)
Mallard
American Black Duck
American Wigeon
Northern Pintail - May's Point Pool
Northern Shoveler
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Wood Duck - 1 flying over Main Pool, 1 on log at Tschache
Ring-necked Duck - May's Point Pool
At Stewart Park we also found a few Common Mergansers.
Lots of other stuff around, as expected, but we weren't concentrating on landbirds.
--Dave Nutter
