Yesterday I ventured down Carncross Road in Savannah to check out the level of the river- it's high! And FYI, as of yesterday afternoon, the road was flooded over and I would not attempt to drive through it. However, paddling on the river this time of year is usually impossible due to low water levels and lots of plant growth, but due to all the rain, it's very accessible to paddling! Usually this is something you can do only in early-mid spring, before the Canal opens and water levels drop, and before the plants grow in. I had a great paddle to the north of the bridge, and the wooded flood plain adjacent to the river was full of water, which is a really cool experience to paddle. We saw many Osprey, Black-crowned Night Herons, an American Bittern in flight, Green Heron, mixed swallows, Eastern Kingbirds, American Goldfinch, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Gulls, and probably more I'm forgetting.
What prompted me to write though, was what we observed driving along Carncross in the direction of the bridge. There were 3-4 American Crows in the road ahead of us, as we got closer they flushed, and out of nowhere, a juvy Northern Harrier appeared. At first, I thought the harrier was after the crows. But then it became obvious the harrier was dive-bombing the crows, which were now perched in a tree with others (on the north side of the road, in the salt marsh). Then, a MERLIN came out of nowhere and joined the melee. It wasn't totally clear who was after who, but it seemed harrier was harassing crows (circling and swooping at the tree they were in), and then Merlin either was joining in? Or chasing the harrier? And then above them, was hundreds of swallows: Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged all flying pretty high (30+ feet up) and swarming. When we finished the paddle, all of these birds mentioned, were gone. It was a really cool experience to watch, and try to figure out what was going on. Also, unrelated: I did see the Roseate Spoonbill in Knox Marsellus on Wednesday night, and it was seen again Thursday morning by my colleague Chris. Both times in the south half of the marsh, out in the middle feeding amongst the egrets and cranes. -- Alyssa Johnson Environmental Educator 315.365.3588 Montezuma Audubon Center PO Box 187 2295 State Route 89 Savannah, NY 13146 Montezuma.audubon.org Pronouns: She, Her, Hers -- 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/ --
