Went to Towpath Road this morning with my friend Dan Watkins and 10 year old son Thomas. Knox-Marcellus Marsh continues to have a nice concentration of shorebirds. We found nothing unusual but nevertheless definitively worth the trip.
There were many "peeps" fairly close to the road which was a nice surprise since often the shorebirds are so distant in Knox-Marcellus Marsh. We saw just the usual peeps...but we got some very nice looks. Most peeps were LEAST but we did have several SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS pretty close. I am pretty sure I heard a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER but we could not find it. When the whole flock close in took off...none displayed a prominent white-rump so I can't be sure. Additionally, we had a few SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, SPOTTED SANDPIPERS and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS close and KILLDEER. Most of the shorebirds are much farther out in the middle of marsh. Yellowlegs are by far the most common. I would say the ratio of greater to lesser yellowlegs has increased since I was last at this marsh a couple weeks ago. LESSER YELLOWLEGS still are more plentiful. We had 2 STILT SANDPIPERS and 9 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS. I couldn't make any of the dowitchers into long-billed... but I tried. Other birds...CASPIAN TERNS, RING-BILLED GULLS, GREEN HERON, BALD EAGLES, OSPREY, many GREAT BLUE HERONs and many GREAT EGRETS now. We tried very hard to find that imm. LITTLE BLUE HERON with no luck. Also dipped on the imm. YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON but they could be hiding in the extensive reeds anywhere. We had BLUE-WINGED and GREEN-WINGED TEALS but we did not focus on the waterfowl much. Heat shimmer was increasing later in the morning so we tried from East Road but late morning lighting is horrible. We did get one BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER among the yellowlegs, and peeps. We also had 2 BLACK TERNS from East Road. I am sure we missed a lot due to the distance, poor lightning and increasing heat shimmer. The best birds of the day for me was the 6 SANDHILL CRANES that we had in the field close to Armitage road right before it meets route 89. I was able to snap a few photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/sets/72157630876064310/with/7701042032/ We also did wildlife drive...Larue's had a few SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, KILLDEER and yellowlegs. The new shorebird area only had several more yellowlegs. Benning Marsh, like this past spring, had a nice variety with easy viewing. Nothing unusual but again nice looks close... PECTORAL SANDPIPER (several), LEAST SANDPIPER(several), SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER(few), SOLITARY SANDPIPER (many) and SPOTTED SANDPIPER (many). Again, by far, the most numerous shorebirds were yellowlegs... both greater and lesser. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- 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/ --
