The AMERICAN AVOCET was still present at Puddler's Marsh this morning. It spent the better part of an hour feeding and loafing in the open water, mostly along the back edge of the pool. It spent most of its time alone, but from time to time it wandered in among a group of gulls resting in the water. I eventually lost track of it as multiple groups of CANADA GEESE arrived and settled into the water.
There were other shorebirds present - I was able to find some LEAST SANDPIPERS, a half dozen or so SANDERLING, small numbers of both GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, at least 1 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, 3-4 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and a few KILLDEER. At one point, a juvenile NORTHERN HARRIER flew low over the marsh and suddenly a group of 40-50 shorebirds of varying sizes were up in the air and flying about. Not sure where they came from. Once they settled down, though, they disappeared just as mysteriously as they had appeared. I didn't pay too much attention to the waterfowl, but there was certainly plenty present. CANADA GOOSE, SNOW GOOSE, MALLARD, NORTHERN PINTAIL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, and WOOD DUCK were the species I remember seeing, along with 2 TRUMPETER SWANS who flew in from the mucklands near RT 31. A juvenile BALD EAGLE made several passes over the area, which created a whirlwind of Anatidae activity with each pass. At one point, I heard and then spotted 5 SANDHILL CRANES among those getting airborne. The terror from the skies continued throughout the morning as an adult HARRIER , a MERLIN and then a PEREGRINE FALCON all took their turn at searching for lunch. I flushed small flocks of sparrows along most of the way down Towpath Road, with a majority of those seen being WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. SONG SPARROWS and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS were present in lesser numbers, and I managed to spot a LINCOLN'S SPARROW among them. Other migrants noted in the area were GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, GRAY CATBIRDS, an EASTERN TOWHEE and multiple small flocks of RUSTY BLACKBIRDS. Mickey Scilingo Constantia Oswego County, NY [email protected] 315-679-6299 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
