I got up very early this morning to head up to Montezuma, but barely made it out of my driveway, as hundreds of thrushes were descending from nocturnal migration. I counted about 200 "thrush" calls in 15 minutes starting at 6:10 AM -- more than half were SWAINSON'S THRUSH, also many ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, about 10 VEERY, and 10 GRAY-CHEEKED, plus a WOOD THRUSH that was giving it's daytime "wick-wick-wick" calls from a tree in my yard.
I then finally did make it up to Montezuma, where the birding was excellent, even though shorebird numbers were drastically reduced and nearly all the good stuff was gone. The thick wet vegetation of the Main Pool along the wildlife drive was filled with ducks, sparrows, and rails -- I heard at least 8 SORAs and 2 VIRGINIA RAILS. I had 1 LINCOLN'S SPARROW among the dozens of SWAMP and SONG, and I'd be surprised if folks don't see multiple Nelson's Sparrows here in the coming weeks. Shorebirds were in low numbers and scattered among the several still-excellent habitats: highlights were a single RED-NECKED PHALAROPE at Knox-Marsallas, 3 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS at the new mud area on the wildlife drive, a single SNIPE and flyover BAIRD's at May's Point, and.... not much else. Every shorebird I looked at today was a juvenile. Also saw the imm. PLEGADIS IBIS at May's Point (surprisingly hard to observe in the dense cattails), but could not find the Little blue Heron. 2 SANDHILL CRANES landed in Puddler's Marsh. I came across several nice migrant flocks, mainly at May's Point and Towpath Rd -- highlights were WILSON'S, TENNESSEE, BAY-BREASTED, BLACKPOLL, MAGNOLIA WARBLERS, SCARLET TANAGER, and LEAST FLYCATCHER. good birding, KEN Ken Rosenberg Director of Conservation Science Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2412 607-342-4594 (cell) [email protected] -- 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/ --
