Today (Thursday 2 June) I went with Ann Mitchell to Armitage Rd, among other north basin locations. When we arrived mid-morning we found Bill Roberts standing within a few feet of where I'd seen a Prothonotary Warbler sing a couple days earlier, but he was not having any luck finding this life bird. Ann & I wandered west along the road and within a few minutes heard a PROTHONOTARY WARBLER singing to the north. It moved frequently and at times was right next to the road as it worked its way towards where we had parked, yet Bill did not see it, and after a few minutes it went quiet. After several minutes it began another bout of singing from another part of its territory, again moving several times,but eventually favoring the top of a broken stump about eye-level maybe 15 yards into the swamp, and this time Bill did get to see it. The Prothonotary Warbler from south of the road also sang, but less frequently and further away, and we did not see it. Ann and I also clearly heard a singing ACADIAN FLYCATCHER north of the road and a bit west of where the Prothonotary Warbler action was concentrated. Other birds heard, as Meena mentioned on a previous visit, included NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, AMERICAN REDSTART, YELLOW WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, CERULEAN WARBLER, BROWN CREEPER, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, VEERY, EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE (Ann only), YELLOW-THROATED VIREO (Ann only), GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER, GRAY CATBIRD, WARBLING VIREO, SWAMP SPARROW... so this is a fun area, even if it takes awhile to track down a Prothonotary Warbler.
We also checked out several other locations but found that wind and wind chill made birding challenging.
At Tschache Pool we found 1 KILLDEER and 1 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. Other shorebirds eluded us. There was a WILLOW FLYCATCHER singing next to the tower, and I noticed on another visit that it had a very yellow belly.
The Wildlife Drive shorebird area was mostly dry and only had 2 KILLDEER, no other shorebirds.
May's Point Pool had a handful of distant REDHEADS, two separate PIED-BILLED GREBES and a couple CEDAR WAXWINGS.
At Martens Tract we walked an unmowed waist-high dike and learned that a MARSH WREN can sing from within 5 feet of you in grass next to a nest and still be invisible.
At Carncross Rd the stubble field is drained, and we saw no shorebirds.
At Morgan Rd after much trouble tracked down a VESPER SPARROW in a stubble field just past the hill along the road. We found 1 GREATER YELLOWLEGS by a wet area north of the DEC office, while to the south we saw 2 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS and 2 GREAT EGRETS, plus 1 MUTE SWAN among several TRUMPETER SWANS. One of the resident AMERICAN KESTRELS chased an Accipiter into a hedgerow.
At Van Dyne Spoor Rd we saw and heard a couple of COMMON MOORHENS and several BLACK TERNS.
East Rd had a single very distant GREAT EGRET.
Most of these places also had GREAT BLUE HERONS, MALLARDS, CANADA GEESE, BARN &/or TREE SWALLOWS, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, COMMON GRACKLES, OSPREY, BALD EAGLE, etc.
I guess we need to wait for another wave of shorebirds to arrive, or at least another wave of calm to look for them.
It seems a bit unfair that this cooler, less humid weather should also be so challenging for birding. We had a good time, but the wind was exhausting.
--Dave Nutter
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