I met Andrew VanNorstrand at Montezuma this afternoon. We spent most of the time on Towpath Road sifting through the shorebirds in the Knox-Marsellus Marsh. Although plenty of birds were there when we arrived, I got the impression a few birds continued to drop in over the course of the afternoon, perhaps in the wake of the front that passed midday.
Knox-Marsellus was very active, with several hundred peeps, mostly LEAST and SEMIPALMATED, ~5 PECTORAL, at least 5 WHITE-RUMPED, ~15 BAIRD'S (including one flock of 11 in one scope view!), 1 SOLITARY, 1 SPOTTED, ~25 STILT, ~40 DOWITCHERS (apparently mostly SHORT-BILLED, at least two juvenile LONG-BILLED), 2 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS (mostly flying around calling), ~30 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and the continuing 2 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES. Interestingly, 5 SANDERLINGS (3 adult, 2 juveniles) were among the shorebirds. A good amount of reshuffling occurred several times when two juvenile PEREGRINE FALCONS decided to team up and hunt shorebirds in flight. While most birds were in the air, two mostly basic-plumaged adult HUDSONIAN GODWITS joined the rest of the flying birds. They landed out with the dowitchers for a while, then on the mud in the next pond over, then were flushed by the Peregrines (ultimately joined by a third juvenile Peregrine) and disappeared. While we were scanning, I heard a WHIMBREL call twice not far off, but I was never able to locate it. It may have been flying by or it may have been in the taller vegetation, but in any case, keep an eye out for it in the area. Also on the flats were 5 SANDHILL CRANES and the resident Snow Goose. Habitat around Montezuma headquarters is somewhat limited, but the part of the visitors center pond closest to 5&20 had ~30 Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpipers, and several Least Sandpipers. I checked Myers Point on the way up and on the way back. On the way up, a Lesser Yellowlegs shared the spit with several Killdeer, Spotted Sandpipers, and a Solitary Sandpiper. I also heard a Semipalmated Plover call several times from out towards the lake. On the way home, an adult SANDERLING was also present on the spit, the bird I was actually hoping to discover both times. 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
