I had to go to Syracuse this morning, so I drove over to Montezuma to see what was there. My first sighting was John Confer. At the visitor's center we saw a Bonaparte's Gull, both Yellowlegs, G-w Teal, Ring-billed Gulls, Caspian Terns, Killdeer, a Pectoral Sandpiper, and very scruffy looking Canada Geese. There was little of interest on Wildlife drive. We then stopped at East Road to look over Knox Marcellus. The water level was much lower than when I had last seen it two and a half weeks ago, so the shore had receded and the majority of the birds were even further away than usual. We could make out peeps, dowitchers, yellowlegs, a few Black Terns, the Pelican, lots of Herons and Egrets, two Sandhill Cranes, anstd a Harrier. At that distance it was impossible to be more specific. John and I parted company and I went out Towpath Road where the viewing was a bit better, although I didn't see any new species.
I went to see the Red-headed Woodpeckers, hoping to see them bring food to the nest. They were foraging - hawking insects and eating wild grapes, but I didn't see them bring any home.
My last stop was Van Dyne Spoor Road where there was an Osprey on a pole and a couple more Bald Eagles. There were very many Gallinules and Coots, a few Pied-billed Grebes and a Green Heron in the marsh.
On the way out I stopped to check out a freshly plucked and almost completely devoured bird on the roadside - probably a young gallinule. I heard a couple of large helicopters coming right towards me. I looked up to see that the one in the lead was Marine One - probably with Obama himself inside!
-- Paul Anderson, VP of Engineering, GrammaTech, Inc. 531 Esty St., Ithaca, NY 14850 Tel: +1 607 273-7340 x118; http://www.grammatech.com -- 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/ --
