Hi all, I had a long day of birding today, apparently basking in the last of the wintery weather. I started at Dryden Lake, about which I already posted: 18 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Long-tailed Ducks (m&f), 2 American Wigeon (m&f), 1 Bonaparte's Gull, 2 Bufflehead, 4 Wood Ducks, and no swallows.
Next George Road pond, where 4 Wilson's Snipe and a pair of Blue-winged Teal joined the Green-winged Teal and Ring-necked Ducks. The Pine Warbler was still singing from the pines west of George Road. Stewart Park was pretty quiet, but I saw a few distant Bonaparte's Gulls moving up the lake, so I headed up to Myers Point. I ended up spending a surprisingly entertaining three hours there. When I first arrived, two CASPIAN TERNS were right overhead but flew north. A pair of Ospreys were also flying over. A decent number of waterfowl were moving by, including a pair of WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, Red-breasted Mergansers, Long-tailed Duck, and Bufflehead. On the water were several Common Loons, 2 RED-NECKED GREBES, and at least one Horned Grebe. When I first arrived, Salmon Creek was full of swallows, including ~20 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, 5+ Barn Swallows, and lots of Tree Swallows, and later one BANK SWALLOW. BONAPARTE'S GULLS were flying low up the middle of the lake for most of the time I was there. I watched about 30 go by before I noticed some were congregating in the bay to the north of the spit. I scanned this flock only for a moment before I spotted an adult LITTLE GULL in the midst of them. The bird was easy to spot in flight (except for being quite distant), with the usual striking black underwings and rounded, white wingtips. On the water it appeared slightly smaller and shorter, the white wingtips still apparent. The bird spent a good deal of time on the water, occasionally taking flight for a minute or two. Gradually the flock moved farther out into the lake, and then dissipated to the north. I first sighted the bird at 9:07 and finally lost it around 9:37, during which time only Jessie Barry was able to get there in time to watch it. Here's the whole list: --------------------------------------------------------- Location: Myers Point Observation date: 4/9/10 8:45am-11:25am Number of species: 44 Canada Goose 30 American Wigeon 2 Mallard 6 White-winged Scoter 2 Long-tailed Duck 1 Bufflehead 12 Common Merganser 2 Red-breasted Merganser 5 Common Loon 6 Horned Grebe 1 Red-necked Grebe 2 Double-crested Cormorant 5 Turkey Vulture 6 Osprey 2 American Coot 160 Killdeer 2 Bonaparte's Gull 75 LITTLE GULL 1 Ring-billed Gull 35 Herring Gull 4 Great Black-backed Gull 4 Caspian Tern 2 Mourning Dove 5 Belted Kingfisher 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 5 Eastern Phoebe 1 Blue Jay 2 Tree Swallow 55 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 25 Bank Swallow 1 Barn Swallow 9 Black-capped Chickadee 1 American Robin 35 European Starling 21 Chipping Sparrow 3 Song Sparrow 3 Northern Cardinal 9 Red-winged Blackbird 25 Common Grackle 18 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 House Finch 10 American Goldfinch 3 House Sparrow 8 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org) ------------------------------------------------------- Drunk with the exhilaration from finding a good bird, I decided to keep going up the lake to find more rarities. I had pretty limited success with this, but still lots of nice birds around. The visitor center pond at Montezuma has two Least Sandpipers and a Pectoral Sandpiper when I first stopped around midday, then one Greater Yellowlegs in the evening, as well as at least one BANK SWALLOW. The main pool was pretty shimmery, but a large flock of Canvasbacks and a very distant CASPIAN TERN were visible. Knox-Marcellus Marsh was pretty empty except for 165 Double-crested Cormorants. At Van Dyne Spoor Road I met Bob, Susan, and Drew, who showed me the plovers they had found. Although somewhat dull in coloration, the small bills and darker caps indicated AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS. When one flew briefly it had pale underwings (no dark axillaries), and both plovers called several times, distinctly different from Black-bellied vocalizations. Railroad Road had a calling VIRGINIA RAIL and AMERICAN BITTERN, as well as a bright male EURASIAN WIGEON with the American Wigeon flock in the pond. At Carncross Road I heard a SANDHILL CRANE calling loudly from the tall grass to the north, although I was never able to see it. A RING-NECKED PHEASANT called here as well. Finally, Muckrace Flats, the new pool near the Audubon Center in Savannah, had a horde of 28 Wilson's Snipe, Rusty Blackbird, Bank Swallow, and another Ring-necked Pheasant on the road. I ended with exactly 100 species for the day, not bad for a cold day in early April. Cheers. Jay McGowan Dryden, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
