I spent a few hours checking out Cone Marsh (Louisa County) late morning/early afternoon today.
Water at Cone was mostly frozen still on east and south sides, but open on the west side. Waterfowl numbers were high. I put estimates by some species but I am terrible at counting, so my numbers are probably low: --3000+ Greater White-fronted Geese --1000+ Canada Geese --50+ Snow Geese --1000+ Mallards --500+ Northern Pintails A few other ducks were there in smaller numbers, usually fewer than 10 (and I probably missed some species hidden among all the geese): --American Black Duck --Lesser Scaup --Common Goldeneye --Common Merganser The Snow Geese were first seen flying over the south side of the marsh. They landed in the non-accessible fields on the south side of the marsh and were no longer viewable. Other sightings today: --small flock of Lapland Longspurs just west of Eastern Iowa Airport (Linn County) near intersection of Wright Brothers Blvd and Cherry Valley Rd. (and I did not find the "airport" Snowy Owl on my loop around the airport roads) --large flock of Lapland Longspurs seen from highway 6 east of Iowa City (Johnson County) --1 lone male Red-winged Blackbird along Atwood in southern Johnson County --1 Rough-legged Hawk along highway 1 north of Solon (Johnson County) --2 Killdeer at Cone Marsh --the usual Eurasian Tree Sparrows at the feeders at the house on the SW corner of Cone Marsh --2 Wild Turkeys lazily crossing highway 6 east of Iowa City and creating a traffic jam for both lanes! Diana Pesek Cedar Rapids, Iowa --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
