Friday, October 29, 2021
Wally provided a very nice list of waterfowl for the last week of
October but, as he stated, "Water levels are still very low, so
waterfowl are getting more diverse but in low numbers". His waterfowls list included:
Cackling Goose,
Canada Goose,
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
American Wigeon,
Mallard,
American Black Duck,
Northern Pintail,
Green-winged Teal and
Hooded Merganser. Although the trend at this time of year is leaning
toward waterfowl highlights, the bird of the week was an early
Snow Bunting found on a gravel road inside the Main Ring. Still highlights
from other families are still being found around the Lab. Wally's other finds for the last week of October were:
Pied-billed Grebe,
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Lesser Yellowlegs,
Northern Harrier,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
Eastern Bluebird,
Cedar Waxwing,
Fox Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco,
White-throated Sparrow,
Song Sparrow,
Eastern Meadowlark,
Red-winged Blackbird,
Brown-headed Cowbird,
Common Grackle and
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Dave
Friday, October 22, 2021
Even though Wally's best represented family of birds during the third
week of October was sparrows, most other families produced some
striking highlights. The impressive list of sparrows included
Field Sparrow,
Fox Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco,
White-crowned Sparrow,
White-throated Sparrow, Savanna Sparrow,
Song Sparrow,
Lincoln's Sparrow and
Swamp Sparrow.
Cackling Goose highlighted the waterfowl list followed
by
Canada Goose,
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Mallard and
Ruddy Duck. Both
Pied-billed Grebes and
Horned Grebes (3)
were found on Lake Law. The Blackbird family was represented by
Eastern Meadowlark,
Red-winged Blackbird,
Common Grackle and, best of
all, a flock of
Rusty Blackbirds (in the A.E. Sea area). As far as
Waders go,
Great Blue Herons and
Great Egrets were found as expected,
but the highlight of the week was finding
Cattle Egrets (3) following
the bison. Other interesting birds included
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Double-crested Cormorant,
Turkey Vulture,
Northern Harrier,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
American Kestrel,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
Winter Wren (another high-quality bird),
Eastern Bluebird,
Palm Warbler and
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Dave
Friday, October 15, 2021
Wally's list this week included some birds sighted on the "eBird Big Day" Oct. 9th, with the help of Donna. Waterfowl still dominate the
list with
Greater White-fronted Goose as the highlight of the list.
Others found were:
Canada Goose,
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
American Wigeon,
Mallard,
Northern Pintail,
Green-
winged Teal and
Ruddy Duck. All 5 of the Fermi woodpeckers were found
including:
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,
Red-bellied Woodpecker,
Downy Woodpecker,
Hairy Woodpecker and
Northern Flicker. Raptors, again,
were well represented with:
Turkey Vulture,
Northern Harrier,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk and
American Kestrel. Other sightings from a very impressive middle of October list were: Pied-
billed Grebe,
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Killdeer,
Wilson's Snipe,
Greater Yellowlegs,
Lesser Yellowlegs,
Eastern Phoebe,
Tree Swallow,
House Wren,
Winter Wren,
Marsh Wren,
Eastern Bluebird,
Cedar Waxwing,
Field Sparrow,
White-crowned Sparrow,
Song Sparrow,
Lincoln's Sparrow,
Swamp Sparrow,
Eastern Towhee,
Eastern Meadowlark,
Brown-headed Cowbird,
Common Grackle,
Tennessee Warbler (a stunned bird in the
road, apparently struck by a car),
Nashville Warbler, and
Palm Warbler. Dave
Friday, October 8, 2021
It's that time of year when waterfowl become the dominate family of
birds sighted. However, other families are usually represented but
more sparingly. Wally's waterfowl list for the first week of October included:
Canada Goose,
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
American Wigeon,
Mallard,
Green-winged Teal and
Ruddy Duck. Raptors, also later migrants, were also well represented
with:
Turkey Vulture,
Northern Harrier,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk and
American Kestrel. Other notable birds found
included:
Pied-billed Grebe,
American Coot,
Killdeer,
Lesser Yellowlegs,
House Wren,
Marsh Wren,
Gray Catbird,
Eastern Bluebird,
Song Sparrow,
Swamp Sparrow and
Palm Warbler. Dave
Friday, October 1, 2021
From Wally's report for the last week of Sept. and into Oct., there
appears to be a transition from the early migrants into the later
migrants. This is evident from the reduction of shorebirds and
warblers to an increase in sparrows and waterfowl. Even though there
has been a degradation in the shorebird habitat at A.E. Sea, Wally came up with
Killdeer,
Pectoral Sandpiper,
Solitary Sandpiper,
Greater Yellowlegs and
Lesser Yellowlegs. Warblers found around the Lab included
Orange-crowned Warbler,
Nashville Warbler,
Common Yellowthroat,
Palm Warbler and
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Wally didn't
mention waterfowl numbers but I'm assuming their numbers are on the
increase. Waterfowl found were
Canada Goose,
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Mallard and
Green-winged Teal. Sparrow species increased and included
Dark-eyed Junco,
Song Sparrow,
Lincoln's Sparrow,
Swamp Sparrow and
Eastern Towhee (not a sparrow but
close). Note - this was the first and only
Dark-eyed Junco of the
season, thus far. Other interesting birds found during this period
were
Pied-billed Grebe,
Black-crowned Night-Heron,
Turkey Vulture,
Sharp-shinned Hawk,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
American Kestrel,
Eastern Wood-Pewee,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Marsh Wren,
Eastern Bluebird,
Cedar Waxwing and
Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Dave
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