Hey John, I only saw two B-b Whistling Ducks at the east end of the marsh. There could have been more hiding in plain sight with the Mallards that I didn’t see.
I’m still not sure about the Spoonbill number. I tried hard to verify more than one, but couldn’t do it definitively, even though our viewing times and locations sure seemed like two different birds. Thanks for the heads up on the Bb ducks. My first visit in the pouring rain, thunder and lightning was such bad viewing I had given up. Happy birding, Gary On Aug 1, 2021, at 4:29 PM, Karen <confergoldw...@aol.com> wrote: I was watching a Roseate Spoonbill in the rain (i.e., we both were) at Knox-Marcellus. Considering that I had a jacket and a small hat, I was getting wet. Gary drove up and got out with an umbrella, muck boots, and a rain jacket as I proceeded to get wetter. Gary said that Ken sed that he had seen two Black-bellied Whistling Ducks down Tow Path. Gary also said that Tow Path was rutted and had mosquitoes. I decided to try and got ~0.7 miles down the the tank trap lined with mosquito swarms to the first opening where you could see water. There was a pink Roseate Spoonbill between two taller American Egrets all while I was offering my limited supply of RBC to the swarms. I drove back down the tank trap and out to Gary who was overlooking the first Roseate Spoonbill, still in Knox-Marcellus although it had moved. These two locations are about 1400m apart (Google Earth). I feel fairly certain they were two birds. While I was down the tank trap feeding mosquito swarms and watching the pink object in my scope, a small flock of ~5 ducks flew by, banked and showed an entirely black underside. I know, what are the odds that one would see a Roseate Spoonbill and 5 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in one field of vision in upstate New York? To help restore my sense of sanity and self-confidence and credibility, would someone else drive a tank down Tow Path to the first opening and see if they find ducks with all black undersides flying around a Roseate Spoonbill. Thanks, John -- 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/>! -- -- 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/ --