At the Armitage Road flooded field at about 4pm yesterday I saw no Yellowlegs or Dowitchers, but I did have two Ruddy Turnstones.
Paul On 5/25/2014 11:48 PM, Dave Nutter wrote: > I went north today seeking the Prothonotary Warbler (no luck for me, > although others heard it earlier in the distance), and shorebirds, > which turned out to be more interesting. In fact it was shorebirds > that delayed my arrival at the hardwood swamp on Armitage Road where > the Prothonotaries have been. The field on the south side of Armitage > is still flooded, and the northeast corner (where one can conveniently > pull off with a car and set up a scope) hosted a goodly number and > variety of shorebirds. Although they flushed, flew, rearranged, and > returned or added several times while I was there, I saw: > > 1 KILLDEER > 5 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER > 1 GREATER YELLOWLEGS > 3 LESSER YELLOWLEGS > 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER > 47 DUNLIN > 25 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER - most arrived in a later batch > 100 LEAST SANDPIPER (estimate) > 1 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER. Although I was unable to pick it out when > they flushed, and didn't refind it afterward, and was a bit frustrated > while viewing it, I've become more confident of the ID based on large > size, including width end-on, and rufous stripe on back. The spotting > on the side was minimal, but the breast & face were streaked with gray > a bit more than I would expect on Semipalmated.) > > Later Ann Mitchell, Gary Kohlenberg & I found some shorebirds and > others at the flooded field (in distant cornstubble on the west side) > on Carncross Rd in Savannah: > > SEMIPALMATED PLOVER - several > KILLDEER - at least 1 > 3 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. The bird I studied most (which was plenty > orange-red on face, neck, & breast) appeared to be Short-billed based > on gold-spotted back, whitish lower belly & undertail, and more white > than black top of tail seen during preening. Another individual showed > a flat back when feeding. > 50 DUNLIN > SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER - several > LEAST SANDPIPER - several > 1 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, flew into my scope view with 4 Semipalmated > Sandpipers, it was similarly grayish tan & white in color but > substantially larger and with a slightly downcurved bill, and as it > alit I saw the broad white band across the upper tail. Unfortunately > it landed behind a dense row of cornstubble, so Gary & Ann did not get > to see it. > > Other neat birds at Carncross included a breeding plumage RED-NECKED > GREBE swimming, diving and sleeping near a female RUDDY DUCK, a male > NORTHERN PINTAIL (late), a male (American) GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and 2 > adult SANDHILL CRANES which observers from a different vantage said > had 2 youngsters. An AMERICAN BITTERN gallunked from the north side of > the road and then flushed when a car stopped on the road nearby. MARSH > WRENS were unusually visible. > > At the "Sandhill Crane Unit" (the flooded land south of Van Dyne Spoor > Rd) we scoped a distant pair of SANDHILL CRANES with at least 1 > youngster atop a muskrat mansion. > > The RED-HEADED WOODPECKER pair continues to give a fine show in the > dead trees on South May's Point Rd. While there I heard a single song > which made me think of Yellow-throated Warbler (a full clear "tuwee, > tuwee, tuwee, tu tu") but was probably something else, like a > Baltimore Oriole. I also heard a BLACKPOLL WARBLER sing nearby. > > My last new bird, found as I was about to leave the Tschache Pool > tower parking lot, was a single west-bound BLACK TERN. > > By the way, there were lots of fine songbirds singing in the woods > along Van Dyne Spoor Rd and along Armitage Rd, although most were > invisible. > --Dave Nutter > -- > *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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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/>!* > -- -- 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/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/ --
