All, We had around 25 people for the 3rd shorebird walk of the season down the dikes between Knox-Marcellus and Puddler's Marshes at Montezuma.
Highlights: at the beginning from East Rd there were 3 STILT SANDPIPERS that were in basic plumage, likely juveniles. The STILTs were near some yellowlegs which made for nice comparisons. We also had 4 peep species also very nice for comparisons. LEAST and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS were most common but we did get nice views of 2 molting adult WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS and a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. The WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS were close to SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS making for nice comparisons on size, shape and primary projections. Additionally, the BAIRD's was near some LEAST SANDPIPERS again making for good comparisons. The difference between coloration, more buffy for baird's vs more brownish/rufous for least, and dark legs(baird's) vs light legs(least) was evident. There were also a lot of KILLDEER and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS too for comparison. Of course both species of yellowlegs at times were in people's scopes. This is by far the BEST way to learn the shorebirds in my opinion: seeing the birds in the field right next to other similar species. No book or video comes close to this experience of learning. And all this just isn't possible from East Rd or Towpath Rd because the distance is too far. So if you are interested in getting better at shorebirds, I highly recommend these shorebird walks. Other highlights: a steady stream of BOBOLINKS flying over the marsh, views of MARSH WRENS, a very cooperative VIRGINIA RAIL, NORTHERN HARRIERS and many BALD EAGLES. The list that I compiled can be found here... http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38953924 Thanks again to all who came along and to the fine folks at Montezuma for supporting these walks. I will be leading another walk this coming Saturday Sept 9th same time and place. 700 am Montezuma Visitor's Center or 715 am from East Road. The walk will end between 11 am and noon. 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/[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/ --
