I had a rather interesting afternoon/evening at the north end of the lake today. Thinking I’d take advantage of the weather and see what was around to record, I headed for Montezuma after lunch. First of all, most of the OSPREY nests/platforms along the east side were still unoccupied. The two exceptions were the tower off Beacon Marine (Village of Cayuga) and one of the power line towers on Rts 5 & 20 just west of the refuge.
My first real stop was the Visitor’s Center pool. While scoping the edges for snipe (none), I noticed a pair of smallish shorebirds that flew in and circled the pool several time as though they intended to land. Twice they came quite close to the deck, and I was able to see the dark throat that was sharply delineated from the light belly. The form was Calidris-like (not Tringa). They never did land and flew off to the west. FOY (for me) PECTORAL SANDPIPERs! My next stop was along East Road, overlooking Knox-Marsellus Marsh. There continued to be large numbers of Green-Winged Teal and Northern Pintails. Shortly after I arrived a group of nine SANDHILL CRANES flew in, calling, and settled into the marsh at the base of the hill. At the far east end of the Mucklands, viewed from Rt 31, there was a pair of GREATER YELLOWLEGS feeding with the expected Ring-billed Gulls, Pintails, Mallards, Black Ducks, and Green-winged Teal. >From there I checked a number of spots in the Savannah area: RR Road, Muckrace >Flats, Morgan Road, Carncross Rd, Marten’s Tract, and the MAC, hoping for new >arrivals like Swamp Sparrow or Virginia Rail. What I did find was a trio of >MARSH WRENS on Carncross Rd. Though hidden in the reeds, they continued to >sing for at least ten minutes. My final new year-bird was a WILSON’S SNIPE that flushed from the end of the path leading east from the parking lot at Marten’s Tract. -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
