Hi all, I was on an errand to Rochester, on the way back I stopped for a couple of hours of birding in MNWR. Most important sighting was Laura Stenzler on Route 89, just few minutes before she saw 16 Sandhill Cranes. Later when I stopped I did not see any. For me interesting birds were large flocks of blackbirds - consisting of Redwings, Grackles and Starlings as major species, but also in a few groups I saw Brown-headed Cowbirds too. It always amazes me how they form wonderful formations and how they take cues to take off. I actually saw hundreds and hundreds of them between from just off of thruway 90 on Rt 318 and all the way to MNWR. As I was heading back on Rt 89 between North Spring Pool and Main Pool later in the evening, sky was filled with blackbirds as they were heading to roost. As both of us were travelling in opposite directions, they looked like very swift flowing rivers. Elsewhere not many species. Visitor Center area had may be a couple of hundreds of Dunlins, I did not see any other shore birds among them, but I was also not paying too much of attention, I was just looking for Godwit.
On the main pool lots of Scaups, at least I saw a few Lesser and a few Greater Scaups. There were also some GADWALLS, Redheads, Ringnecks, Wooducks etc. etc. It was pleasant evening, but I had to head home for errands. For those who are sea bird enthusiasts, I have uploaded some pictures of my recent Wollongong Pelagic trip in southeastern Australia where I saw many Albatrosses and Shearwater. Here is a link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/91426...@n00/sets/72157625151470501/with/5130340516/ Hope you enjoy it, there more pictures to come but I have exceeded my 100 mb limit already in first round. Cheers Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 http://haribal.org/ http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
