[cayugabirds-l] MNWR Wednesday
Started our day of investigating the nooks and cranies of the refuge by observing Dave Nicosia doing his best Jim Cantore imitation while simultaneously wind sheltering, hanging on to his tripod and counting peeps at the visitors center. That's peep dedication! We'll add a few items to his observations. Highlights were watching the mating of a pair of Sandhills at Eaton and an interesting interaction between a dominant Canada and two TVs in the middle of the wildlife drive. Sadly, before that was resolved, one of those tour the refuge at 30mph cars came through and broke up the match. We wondered if the Sandhill mating might indicate an intent to nest around Eaton Marsh? The drive was loaded with Gallinules and PB Grebes. Counted 14 of the former there and more later on at Van Dyne Spoor Rd where many Anax junius were also flying. Great Egrets in several areas, a Green Heron at Carncross, 6 Trumpeters, GW Teal, Woodies and Shovelers as well. A Grey Ghost and a hen Harrier hunting the drive just before the construction block and a dark phase Red-tail at Carncross joined the myriad of eagles and Osprey. Always a highlight were three Black Terns on the drive. We had 2 snipe at Carncross and many Greater Yellowlegs all over as well as several Solitary Sanpipers bobbing through the marsh edges. As Dave reported there were many Caspians, especially at the mucklands and we had 6 Common Tern on the drive and at the other areas. Purple Martin pairs in residence at the visitors center condo as well as a single uppity House Sparrow. Thousands of Tree and Barn Swallows all the way up the west side of Cayuga as well as the refuge areas. Warblers were thin with Yellow, Chestnut-sided and Redstart predominating. Swamp Sparrows were in a couple of marshes. Ended the odyssey around 5 PM with 55 species. A visit to Bass Pro for new boots (the marshes were quite wet) completed the day. John and Sue -- John and Sue Gregoire Field Ornithologists Kestrel Haven Migration Observatory 5373 Fitzgerald Rd Burdett, NY 14818 42.443508000, -76.758202000 -- 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] MNWR - Wednesday highlights
The main attraction right now is the large number of birds at the Main Pool and K-M/Puddler's Marsh. Bald Eagles were flushing the ducks from time to time and creating great clouds of waterfowl on the Wildlife Drive. I looked for the Eared Grebe but did not see it and only one ibis was present. A Canvasback was new for me on the Main Pool, among many wigeon, Ruddy Ducks, Lesser Scaup, coots, pintail, Gadwall, and Green-winged Teal. I noticed only 1 Black Duck and no Blue-winged Teal. Over to East Rd where the visibility was excellent. I spent several hours going through geese etc. The very back edge of Puddler had three Greater Yellowlegs barely visible under very clear conditions. Herring may have replaced Ring-bill as the dominant gull. 44 Sandhill Cranes flew in on the evening roost flight. Back to the Wildlife Drive where evening flight was also fully on. Most exciting was 40 (exact count) Dunlin which flew in to Eaton Marsh (had not been present earlier). At Clay Marsh in Clay on Tuesday the evening blackbird roost flight was impressive. I clicked 40,000 by hundreds but missed birds coming in from other directions. Dominant species were Red-winged Blackbird (mostly) with some grackles mixed in and probably a lot of Rusties. Virtually nothing was flying until about 4:05pm when great rivers began. Red-wings and Rusties were singing. I put photos up illustrating the great duck and blackbird clouds. Also coots flying, a coot revealing his tail (much more detail to it than I would have thought), plus the 44 cranes flying in, the 40 Dunlin, Ruddy Ducks diving, and dabblers tipping. https://www.flickr.com/photos/krankykestrel/ David Wheeler N. Syracuse, 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] MNWR - Wednesday
Many thousands of ducks/geese in at the Main Pool - both dabblers and divers. At least one Eurasian Wigeon continues but I missed the Eared Grebe. Shorebirds included both yellowlegs, 2 Stilt Sandpiper, 5 Dunlin, and 2 White-rumped Sandpiper. Over at Knox-Marsellus the Avocets continue. Many geese there also plus a few distant shorebirds, presumably yellowlegs. Some photos at the link below: Common Gallinule stretching wings, doing feather maintenance, scratching. Also Peregrine Falcon, Harrier, PB Grebe diving and standing out of water showing amazing feet, Ruddy Duck diving, lots more on the photostream and pending upload. Away from MNWR there are Wigeon flying with Gadwall at Fair Haven, Brant flocks on Lake Ontario, a Caspian Tern flying in front of a fire hydrant, a Kingbird (and its shadow) dive-bombing a Bald Eagle, etc. https://www.flickr.com/photos/krankykestrel/ David Wheeler N. Syracuse, 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] MNWR Wednesday evening
Water levels high, things much as they have been. Highlight was a Red-necked Phalarope picked out by Tony Shrimpton at Puddler's Marsh, and an excellent roost flight of blackbirds as seen from Mays Point. 58-60 Great Egrets at Mays between 7 and 8pm, about half of them in roost position. 11 at Knox-Marsellus earlier. Best shorebird spot was Puddler. Six Sandhill Cranes were at K-M on Sunday night. Dave Wheeler Oswego County, NY Montezuma NWR--Knox-Marcellus Marsh, Seneca, US-NY Aug 24, 2011 4:30 PM - 4:45 PM Protocol: Traveling 0.5 mile(s) Comments: with Tony Shrimpton 15 species (+1 other taxa) Canada Goose X Wood Duck X Mallard X Northern Pintail 1 Green-winged Teal X Double-crested Cormorant X Great Blue Heron X Great Egret 11 Bald Eagle 3 Northern Harrier 1 Sandhill Crane 3 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 3 Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher 1 in the weeds as seen from Towpath Rd Ring-billed Gull 5 Caspian Tern 3 Montezuma NWR--Puddler Marsh, Seneca, US-NY Aug 24, 2011 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM Protocol: Traveling 0.5 mile(s) Comments: with Tony Shrimpton 17 species (+1 other taxa) Canada Goose X Wood Duck X Mallard X Great Blue Heron X Semipalmated Plover 1 Killdeer 1 Greater Yellowlegs 5 Lesser Yellowlegs 25 Semipalmated Sandpiper 20 one with a suspicious bill Least Sandpiper 20 Pectoral Sandpiper 1 Stilt Sandpiper 1 juv. Short-billed Dowitcher 4 juveniles Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher 5 didn't look carefully at them Red-necked Phalarope 1 Ring-billed Gull 10 Caspian Tern 20 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 Montezuma NWR--Visitor Center, Seneca, US-NY Aug 24, 2011 6:00 PM - 6:30 PM Protocol: Stationary Comments: with Tony Shrimpton 22 species Canada Goose X Wood Duck 5 Mallard 12 Blue-winged Teal 2 Northern Shoveler 4 Green-winged Teal X Great Blue Heron 1 Greater Yellowlegs 5 Lesser Yellowlegs 25 Semipalmated Sandpiper 1 Least Sandpiper 3 Pectoral Sandpiper 1 Short-billed Dowitcher 2 Long-billed Dowitcher 3 Ring-billed Gull 2 Caspian Tern 2 Chimney Swift 1 Tree Swallow X Bank Swallow 1 Barn Swallow X European Starling X American Goldfinch 2 Montezuma NWR--Auto Loop, Seneca, US-NY Aug 24, 2011 6:30 PM - 6:50 PM Protocol: Traveling 2.0 mile(s) Comments: with Tony Shrimpton 15 species Canada Goose X Wood Duck X Mallard 2 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Great Blue Heron 2 Killdeer 1 Greater Yellowlegs 2 Lesser Yellowlegs 4 Purple Martin 40 Tree Swallow 10 Barn Swallow 10 European Starling 5 Savannah Sparrow 1 Song Sparrow 1 Red-winged Blackbird 5 Montezuma NWR--Mays Point Pool, Seneca, US-NY Aug 24, 2011 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Protocol: Stationary Comments: with Tony Shrimpton; excellent roost flight of Red-winged Blackbirds 23 species Canada Goose X Trumpeter Swan 1 Wood Duck 5 Mallard 5 Green-winged Teal 5 Great Blue Heron X Great Egret 58 58-60; no wing tags; about 30 were pre-roosting on the mud flat Osprey 1 Sandhill Crane 2 flew in Semipalmated Plover 1 Greater Yellowlegs 3 Lesser Yellowlegs 4 Semipalmated Sandpiper 2 Least Sandpiper 2 Bonaparte's Gull 1 juv. Tree Swallow X Barn Swallow X Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 European Starling X Red-winged Blackbird 5000 approximate Common Grackle X not sure how many Brown-headed Cowbird X not sure how many American Goldfinch 2 -- 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/ --
[cayugabirds-l] MNWR - Wednesday night
Apologies for the lateness of this report. Wednesday night highlights at Puddler's marsh: ~1000 Lesser Yellowlegs a few Greater Yellowlegs ~500 Least Sandpiper 2 Stilt Sandpiper 2 Baird's Sandpiper 1 Wilson's Phalarope 2 Short-billed Dowitcher 1 Solitary Sandpiper many Killdeer and Spotted Sandpiper More of the same at Knox-Marsellus but Puddler's is becoming very good. I didn't attempt to count everything in both impoundments but it was a lot. Dave Wheeler Oswego County 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/ --
