Scott Haber, Nick Sly, and I birded Montezuma this evening. The main pool had a large number of waterfowl, mostly American Wigeon and Northern Pintail but with a mix of Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, Redhead, and Ruddy Duck. An AMERICAN BITTERN was in the grass at Shorebird Flats but flew back into the reeds when we stopped. We also saw a juvenile COMMON GALLINULE in the reeds across from Benning Marsh, and 6 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS at Larue's Lagoon.
Mays Point had a large group of about 70 LESSER YELLOWLEGS with at least 6 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 4 STILT SANDPIPERS, and 4 DUNLIN. Lots of Green-winged Teal and other dabblers here too, as well as 14 GREAT EGRETS. At Towpath a little before dusk we saw the AMERICAN AVOCET with the gulls. Other shorebirds included both yellowlegs, 6 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 7 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS (including some beautiful juveniles), 3 DUNLIN, 1 LEAST SANDPIPER, and about 8 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. One of the Semipalmateds was in basic plumage and had a fairly substantial bill and seemed bigger than the others, leading me to speculate that it might be a WESTERN SANDPIPER, although the bill and plumage probably overlap with Semipalmated. Mediocre photos are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111137855303614931880/Fall2011#5664282803701263490 and here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111137855303614931880/Fall2011#5664282810971785810 . Any thoughts would be welcome. Passerines at Towpath included White-throated, White-crowned, Song, Swamp, and Lincoln's sparrows, Nashville, Blackpoll, and Yellow-rumped warblers, and a calling Eastern Towhee. Seven SANDHILL CRANES flew from a field in the Mucklands in to Puddlers at dusk, along with several thousand geese. Cheers, Jay McGowan On Oct 16, 2011 5:53 PM, "Hope Batcheller" <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > I and several others from the Birding Club at Cornell (Julia Gillis, > Brendan Fogarty, Graham Montgomery, Teresa Pegan, and Ben Barkley) birded > Montezuma for while today. Our highlights include the Greater White-fronted > Goose at the Visitor Center in the large flock of Canadas along with the > Snow x Canada Goose hybrid. The only shorebirds were both yellowlegs, 5 > Black-bellied Plovers, and a Semipalmated Sandpiper along the wildlife > drive. > > May's Point Pool had three Long-billed Dowitcher along with both > yellowlegs, several Bald Eagles, and the expected assortment of ducks. > > We also had the avocet from East Road, along with 10 Sandhill Cranes and 6 > flyover Am. Pipits. However, the most surprising bird was ON East Road: a > Ruffed Grouse directly in front of our car as we pulled up to the parking > lot! > > Good birding, > > --Hope Batcheller > Petersburgh/Ithaca, NY > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail > Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> > !* > -- > -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
