I think today's shorebirding trip was a success. About 40 people came. The weather was great. I only noticed 1 mosquito, but we saw 11 species of shorebirds. I talked about Tringa and Calidris genus shapes and about using the relative size of different species as clues. ID problems we talked about included: Greater v Lesser Yellowlegs; Least v Semipalmated Sandpipers; Stilt Sandpiper v Lesser Yellowlegs; Short-billed v Long-billed Dowitcher; Semipalmated Plover v Killdeer. The additional shorebirds we saw were Spotted Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper.
Alas, no phalaropes. However we saw multiple Green Herons. The highlight surely was the flock of sixteen Sandhill Cranes which arrived, flying nearly directly over us to land in Puddler, to be joined shortly by a bugling duo from Knox-Marsellus while the third member of that family stayed behind. Thanks to the birders for showing up and sharing questions, scopes, and expertise, particularly Jay McGowan, Bob McGuire, Garys Chapin & Kohlenberg, and others I was too distracted to notice or whose names I'm forgetting or don't know. Thanks to Montezuma staff, particularly Linda Ziemba for arranging the buffet for the birds, and Andrea Van Beusichem for setting up the field trip program, and for the birds for being so obliging. --Dave Nutter -- 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/ --
