Matt Medler, Scott Haber, Livia Santana, and I went up to Montezuma this afternoon after work. On the way up we stopped at Myers Point, where three Least Sandpipers were the only shorebirds of note, although others saw a slightly higher diversity earlier in the day. Yesterday evening the sandbar island in Fall Creek still hosted one Pectoral, one Semipalmated, one Least, and one Spotted sandpiper, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and several Killdeer. The resident juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron was sitting in its customary dead tree over the creek. It was not in evidence today.
Shorebirds were present but not abundant at the refuge. The visitor center pond had about 30 peeps, Least and Semipalmated plus five Pectorals, three LONG-BILLED and four SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS (Long-billed identified by shape beforehand and later confirmed by voice), and the usual yellowlegs and dabbling ducks. Habitat is not ideal on the wildlife drive, with Larue's being too dry (except in the back where viewing is difficult), and the flats and Benning being too flooded or grassy. Mays Point was fairly good, but most of the shorebird action was out to the left of the corral and very distant, recalling years past (not necessarily in a good way) when Mays was THE shorebird spot at Montezuma. We did pick out 5 STILT SANDPIPERS and 1 RED-NECKED PHALAROPE among the many yellowlegs, Least, Semipalmated, and Pectoral sandpipers, and four Short-billed Dowitchers were feeding straight out. Puddlers Marsh has a good amount of suitable habitat but not many birds at the moment. We did see 19 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS and several Semipalmated Plovers, but most of the peeps were too distant to sift through in the fading light. At least 6 Black-crowned Night-Herons flew by as it got dark. Here in Northeast Ithaca, I've been hearing a decent number of warblers and sparrows migrating overhead. No thrushes yet, but there seems to be some movement. A juvenile BARRED OWL was screeching from the Ithaca side of Sapsucker Woods Road near the trailhead when we passed a few minutes ago. -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology jw...@cornell.edu -- 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/ --
