All, Met up with 10 others at the Visitor's center 7 am Sunday July 31st for our second "shorebird" walk of the fall migration season. We spent a little over 5 hours birding wildlife drive of which we were given permission to get out of our vehicles to bird. Dave Nutter co-led another group at K-M and Puddler's marsh and then eventually they hit wildlife drive.
First bird of note was an EASTERN WOOD PEWEE calling in the woods by the beginning of the drive. There were also several other common songbird species that were heard and/or seen around these woods. First stop was the channel on the right before you get to Larue's Lagoon. This is normally the "solitary sandpiper" spot but not for this trip as we saw SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, KILLDEER and LEAST SANDPIPERS. No solitaries for us here. Next stop was Larue's where there is some shorebird habitat. There wasn't much but we did get looks at SEMIPALMATED PLOVERs among a couple KILLDEER, also heard a LEAST SANDPIPER here. The main pool does have some small strips of muddy areas and with this we had some LESSER YELLOWLEGS, LEAST SANDPIPERs and a single SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER which was not seen by all. Additionally the main pool had lots of PIED BILLED GREBES, AMERICAN COOTS, COMMON GALLINULES, WOOD DUCK, MALLARD and BLACK DUCKS. We had a lone GADWALL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL and I managed to finally get on the RING-NECKED DUCK that has been here for a while. This bird was distant and not everyone was able to get on it. The main pool also featured numerous BLACK TERNS ranging from almost full, albeit worn, breeding plumage adults to mottled molting adults to juveniles. These birds were not bothered at all by our presence and many times they flew within 10 or so feet of us! We conservatively estimated around 30-35 birds but this is probably low. There were also beautiful CASPIAN TERNS for all to enjoy. Next stop was Eaton Marsh and the grass is really making it hard to find shorebirds. We had our first GREATER YELLOWLEGS of the day with a few LESSER YELLOWLEGS. I also heard a SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and LEAST SANDPIPER here which we never were able to find at this location. Last stop was Benning marsh and here the variety was good, numbers low and habitat limited to the left part of the marsh as you face the thruway. Highlights here were 3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 1 WILSON'S SNIPE, LEAST SANDPIPERS, SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, our first good looks at a SOLITARY SANDPIPER, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, SPOTTED SANDPIPERs and KILLDEER. There were occasions where we had WILSON'S SNIPE, SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, LEAST and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS in one scope view. We drove the rest of wildlife drive but didn't stop at the pools by the thruway as the road is too narrow there and we frankly we were a bit tired. The habitat by the thruway looks promising for phaloropes and other larger shorebirds. There were many GREAT EGRETS here also. We totally 68 species in 5 hours of birding which is not bad for wildlife drive this time of year. ebird list is here... http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30918147 We then made a stop at May's Point but the viewing was poor for shorebirds as there was a lot of vegetation to look through. There were a handful of LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 1 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, KILLDEER and LEAST SANDPIPERs. There was also a family of TRUMPETER SWANS. ebird list is here... http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30918568 Thanks again to the fine folks at Montezuma for allowing these guided shorebird field trips! Dave Nicosia -- 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
