[cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Sat 8/7
Went to Knox-Marcellus Marsh with my friend Dan Watkins this morning. We birded Towpath Road from 9 to 11 am. The shorebird concentrations continue. Unfortunately most of the birds today were far away and not easy to see, especially with some heat shimmer. There was probably much more there that we just did not see. The LESSER YELLOWLEGS continue to be extremely plentiful as they were almost everywhere. The were a few GREATER YELLOWLEGS at times. LEAST SANDPIPER were also plentiful with a handfull of SEMIPALMATED and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. SPOTTER SANDPIPERS were also plentiful. We saw the 4 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS that were seen last evening. All were still in breeding plumage. There was numerous SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS and KILLDEER. I saw a few small flocks of DOWITCHERS way out. I presume they were SHORT-BILLED. There continues to be a very large concentration of GREAT BLUE HERON. We also had one GREEN HERON. No egrets here this morning. We had 6-8 BALD EAGLES, 1 adult and 1 immature that were siting on branch near the road. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davenicosia/4869209775/ for photos. CASPIAN TERNS were also very numerous with over 20 estimated loafing among many RING-BILLED GULLS. COMMON MOORHEN were also fairly common here and there. There was the same family group of TRUMPETER SWANS of a couple weeks ago as well as many DOUBLE-CREST CORMORANTS. We had several NORTHERN SHOVELER, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, MALLARD and WOOD DUCK. The lone SNOW GOOSE continues among the many CANADAs. Also had many many swallows...mostly TREE and BANK with some BARN and a few ROUGH-WINGED. We did not get any STILT SANDPIPERS or the WILSON's PHALAROPE but they certainly could be out there somewhere as again there were many many birds out of range. One thing I noticed was the water levels were down since a couple weeks ago. Deeper water is found much farther out now. We tried East Road for a little while but the lighting was very poor. Van Dyne Sporer Road was quiet except for a flock of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and several COMMON MOORHEN. Also ran into a flock of swallows on the wire. They were equally split between TREE and BANK SWALLOWS. At May's Point, we ran into a bunch of CEDAR WAXWINGs in the dead trees where they put on a nice show. Also had 2 GREAT EGRETs, PIED-BILLED GREBE and COMMON MOORHEN. At Tschache Pool we had the most unusual bird of the day. 1 lone HORNED GREBE was found a ways out. This grebe clearly had white on its face and was close in size to the PIED-BILLED. We also saw some PIED-BILLED GREBE to compare with. There was also BALD EAGLE, CASPIAN TERNS, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTs, TRUMPETER SWANs. and DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. Dave Nicosia Johnson City, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] More Montezuma Sat Aug 7.
I too went up to Montezuma today, arriving just as David's party was leaving I guess. I spent several hours around the Knox Marcellus impoundment, from Towpath and East Rds and finally walking in on both the grassy impoundment on the north side, and then on the east side in the late afternoon. Shorebirds continue in abundance, although as others have noted they are mostly distant and the heat waves were brutal. Roughly the same total numbers (1-2 thousand) and species composition as a week ago, but with obvious turnover of individuals, based on ratios of age classes. The most notable change was unlike last Saturday's 20 adult STILT SANDPIPERS, today I found only 1 adult, but 5 fresh-plumaged juveniles. Many of the 200+ LEAST SANDPIPERS were juveniles, but all of the 100 or so SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS I could age were adults (many fewer than last week. Interestingly, the 12 adult SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS were surrounded by adult LESSER and GREATER YELLOWLEGS in the deeper water, while many juvenile LESSER YELLOWLEGS are now scattered across the mud (about 600 total). There were at least 6 adult BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS in partial to complete breeding plumage, and I found 1 worn adult WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, 2 BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS (possibly worn adults as they looked dull and not very scaley, and a single worn adult SANDERLING. Other shorebirds were about 50 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 80 SEMILPALMATED PLOVERS, 100 KILLDEER, 10 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS (mostly juvs), 2 SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, and 1 WILSON'S SNIPE. Also at K-M were 200 GREAT BLUE HERONS, 1 GREAT EGRET, 1 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, 5 SANDHILL CRANES, 6 SHOVELER, many GREEN-WINGED and BLUE-WINGED TEAL, 1 BLACK DUCK in with sev hundred MALLARDS, 1 SNOW GOOSE, family of TRUMPETER SWANS, and at least 10 immature BALD EAGLES. A very buffy juvenile BONAPARTE'S GULL was in with the 55 CASPIAN TERNS and 50+ RING-BILLED GULLS. A juvenile PEREGRINE put on a show all afternoon, terrorizing the shorebirds, ducks and terns. Interesting how the herons just stood there and watched as the Peregrine hunted right by them. Along May's Point Rd, I could not find the Prothonotary Warbler among the chickadees and Yellow Warblers on my second try, but 2 rather late immature CERULEAN WARBLERS were a nice find. Thousands of TREE SWALLOWS dominated at most places, with smaller numbers of BANK and BARN SWALLOWS - at dusk (after 8 PM), PURPLE MARTINS came in from all directions, and I counted 200 martins from Tsasche tower just after sunset. It was a beautiful afternoon, and it was fun sharing some shorebirding with Ann Mitchell and Dave Nutter. KEN ** Ken Rosenberg Director of Conservation Science Cornell Lab of Ornithology Ithaca NY 14850 Phone: 607-254-2412 cell: 607-342-4594 k...@cornell.edu www.birds.cornell.edu -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
