Ann Mitchell & I also visited the south pond behind the Montezuma Audubon Center on NYS-89 north of Savannah. This pond has been drawn down. A flock of 21 Great Egrets and 9 Great Blue Herons crowded along the central channel to feed on trapped fish. There were both Yellowlegs and a Solitary Sandpiper as well. The mud flats hosted 3 Wilson's Snipe, 2 Killdeer, 4 Semipalmated Plovers, 7 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and 90 Least Sandpipers.
At the Montezuma NWR headquarters" newly wetted shorebird habitat which Pete Saracino mentioned, we saw 3 Least Sandpipers and a Semipalmated Plover in addition to the Killdeer & Yellowlegs. We also expect that to improve. At the Seneca Slough there was a Stilt Sandpiper, a Solitary, and a couple Lesser Yellowlegs. Seneca Flats had more potential than shorebirds, but it often seems better later in the day. Banning had too much water. Mays Point Pool only had a very few scattered and hard to see Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs when we were there. Knox-Marsellus had 2 yellowlegs, 2 Great Blue Herons and 4 dabblers on a distant puddle and smear of mud. We could not see Puddler's small patch of habitat well enough from the East Road lookout. --Dave Nutter -- 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/ --