Kevin and I headed up the lake this afternoon to see if any new shorebirds
had dropped in at Montezuma. We didn't find anything incredible, but a nice
variety of shorebirds remained up there. The highlight of the drive up was
a juvenile COMMON GALLINULE walking around amid Mallards on the algae mats
at the Mill Pond in Union Springs.
The Visitor Center at Montezuma continues to have good habitat, but picking
out small shorebirds is challenging amid the clods of mud. An adult BAIRD'S
SANDPIPER–a rare plumage here–continued from last weekend, but the Wilson's
Phalarope did not. Also present were a flock of PECTORAL SANDPIPERS with a
single DUNLIN, as well as a STILT SANDPIPER that was chased by a Tundra
Peregrine Falcon.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39481464
Duck numbers are increasing on the main pool, and an eclipse EURASIAN
WIGEON was among the dabblers in the back, along with Ring-necked Ducks,
Redhead, and one group of Lesser Scaup. A flock of 5000+ NORTHERN PINTAIL
has accumulated along the northern end of the pool.
Benning Marsh had even more shorebirds, including LEAST, SEMIPALMATED,
WHITE-RUMPED, PECTORAL, and STILT SANDPIPERS, DUNLIN, both YELLOWLEGS,
WILSON'S SNIPE, Killdeer, SEMIPALMATED, 3 BLACK-BELLIED and 1 AMERICAN
GOLDEN- PLOVERS, and two LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, with another 16
Long-billed Dowitchers at Eaton.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39481460
Overall shorebird numbers were far from impressive, but 15 species isn't
bad for the final day of September.
Cheers,
Jay
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Jay McGowan
Macaulay Library
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
jw...@cornell.edu
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