Highlights of our birding at Montezuma included a breeding plumage WILSON'S PHALAROPE in the Main Pool along the Wildlife Drive at Montezuma (add 1 to the total Dave mentions?) around 6:30 pm, a singing SWAINSON'S THRUSH along Armitage Rd. near the Prothonotary Warbler site, and a COMMON NIGHTHAWK along Van Dyne Spoor Road at dusk. Many more shorebirds than two days ago--nice variety along the Wildlife Drive as well as at Knox-Marsellus.
--Sandy Podulka At 11:56 PM 5/24/2015, you wrote: >In the middle of this warm afternoon Ann Mitchell & I visited >Montezuma NWR's Knox-Marsellus Marsh, viewing from East Rd. There >were huge numbers of shorebirds. I estimated three thousand DUNLIN. >But the heat shimmer was a problem, so we left and returned when the >light was more behind us and the ground wasn't being heated so much. >At 5:30pm conditions were better for scoping the distant shorebirds >in shallow waters and wet or moist mud. There were at least 15 >BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS in various plumages, several each of >SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, and LEAST SANDPIPERS, >and 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS. Ann also discovered a WILSON'S PHALAROPE, >pot-bellied and very white running drunkenly and pecking randomly at >the water's surface among a flock of sedately feeding Dunlin. As we >showed it to other birders it kept moving, then it flushed along >with all the nearby Dunlin. I refound a pale (male) Wilson's >Phalarope only to have it walk up to another with a dark mark on the >side of the upper neck (a female). They stood erect and walked tight >circles around each other for a minute before resuming their odd >foraging mode. Then I noticed 2 more males, for 4 Wilson's >Phalaropes in the same view. This is the most I've encountered at >once around here, and a great way to end a full day of birding, >which included finding the adult GLOSSY IBIS in Larue's Lagoon along >the Wildlife Drive. This was very fortunate, because Bob McGuire >said (I think - bad phone connection) that he saw it in the Main >Pool, which could have made it far harder to find or see well. > >--Dave Nutter-- >Cayugabirds-L List Info: ><http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME>Welcome and Basics ><http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES>Rules and Information ><http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm>Subscribe, > >Configuration and Leave >Archives: ><http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html>The >Mail Archive ><http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds>Surfbirds ><http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html>BirdingOnThe.Net >Please submit your observations to <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>eBird! >-- -- 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/ --
