This morning I led SFO's Group 2. The theme was
wetlands, so our first stop was at the seasonal pond in the field along NYS-38 by George Rd just northwest of the village of Dryden. Among
the numerous CANADA GEESE we found multiple GREEN-WINGED TEAL and RING-NECKED DUCKS, pairs of MALLARDS and of AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, and single males of REDHEAD and BUFFLEHEAD. A pair of KILLDEER dropped down from the sky, spent awhile along the icy shore, then flew off.
After seeing a couple of EASTERN MEADOWLARKS in flight we started
seeing them in the field as well, at least three, and possibly as many as six, all told.
One of them sang while facing us, showing his bright yellow breast and
belly. When he stopped singing and turned around he became nearly
invisile in the dead grass. There were plenty of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS
singing, too, but we found no Savannah Sparrows yet. A single probable
TREE SWALLOW flew past, but distantly, and too quickly to be seen well, a situation
which recurred at Dryden Lake. By the time we left George Rd most of the geese had dispered from the area. Three TURKEY VULTURES flew west fairly low and flapping a lot, probably just leaving a roost, as we saw two more of them very low when we drove south through the Village of Dryden.
Some of our highlights were along the Jim Schug Trail, the converted railroad grade which runs along the southwest side of Dryden Lake and for miles in either direction. Railroad grades tend to make nice patches of wetland habitat where they interrupt drainage along a valley. We parked at the Chaffee Rd trail crossing near the northwest end of Dryden Lake. Just north of here Virgil Creek goes through some lovely habitat of mixed forest, brush, and a narrow weedy floodplain. I was hoping for more variety of sparrows, and I am confident there will be more in coming weeks, but we did hear several versions of SONG SPARROW songs. In one mixed species foraging flock we encountered a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET among BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES and DOWNY WOODPECKERS. Further south in another flock we all eventually got to see a BROWN CREEPER. Nearby a pair of WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES was checking out a potential nest cavity high up on a tree trunk. One of them clung for a long time to the tree just below an old hole and repeatedly peered inside. Eventually we understood why it didn't enter, when its mate emerged, and they flew off together As we returned to Chaffee Road we all saw and heard an EASTERN PHOEBE which was heard earlier by several people in our group with better hearing than I. In past years Phoebes have frequented the area between the stream and an old barn just north of this trail crossing, but this bird flew southwest to another farmyard along NYS-38 where an open roofed structure doubtless provided good nest sites.
Today's sunny calm weather was far more pleasant than either today's forecast or last week's reality, and the addition of such spring birds as Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Phoebe and fleeting glimpses of Tree Swallows made us feel that Spring is slowly progressing.
--Dave Nutter
