Well it's fall migration time and I've been going a little nuts reading everybody's posts about the birds they are seeing but not having the time to go out! Well over the weekend I got my chance. I managed to pick up a few new birds as well. On Saturday morning I visited the Beach City backwaters to follow up on reports of warblers moving through the area. Unfortunately I never got a clear view of any though I think some stayed just out of sight. I did here quite a few White-eyed Vireo, which seems to be a favorite haunt of theirs. Plenty of other common birds where around, but also playing hard to spot in the thick understory. The spot of the day was a Broad-winged Hawk flying overhead. Did that ever silence the birds for awhile!Broad-winged Hawk, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sunday afternoon I headed out for the Bobolink area grand tour: The Wilderness Center, Killbuck Marsh and Funk Bottoms. I was almost breathless from excitement heading out, visions of migratory birds flooding Wilderness Rd. in my head. I quick stop at the observation window at TWC yielded a great look at a Chestnut-sided Warbler amongst piles of Gold Finch and Chipmunk. But the "Wilderness" was calling and I stayed not long...Chestnut-sided Warbler, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
OH THE SORROW when I arrived!!! Almost all the the mudflats where dry and had turned into mere grassland. Being that I also had no spotting scope the few birds still hanging around the area where far out of ID reach. I may have seen the Bobolink, but alas I could not be sure. A bald Eagle in the distance was but cold comfort for my new bird hunger. BUT fret not! I did see a site that tickled both the new bird and funny bone. Strolling past one of the pools (you know the water that used to be in the mudflats before being pumped out = grrr) I spotted some Canada Goose decoys floating quietly in the breeze (double grrr). Low and behold, atop the headless rump of a ducking decoy was defiantly perched a Double-crested Cormorant basking lazily in the afternoon sun. I could have kissed that cheeky bird! THAT was worth the drive for sure.Double-crested Cormorant, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sorry to say that my brain must have overheated in the sunshine and I missed my window to stop by the Funk Bottoms observation platform - no Sandhill Cranes for me yet... I did, however stop by Wright Marsh and, thanks to the spotting scope of some young Amish birders, I finally got a peak at a Common Moorhen. As a point of interest Wright Marsh seems to be shaping up nicely. A VERY large mudflat in the works.Common Moorhen, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
That's all for now. I WILL live to bird another day! Bird on!
View Weekend Birding 9/11-9/12 in a larger map
Photo Credits:
Broad Winged Hawk - Len Blumin
Chesnut-sided Warbler - Cephas
Double-crested Cormorant - MONGO
Common Moorhen - Jens Nielsen
Jealous of the Broad-Winged Hawk, Moorhen and Chestnut-Sided Warbler, but I beat ya on the Cormorant!!! They came through here about a week or 2 ago. Also have had no time for birding since school started, but did get to the SUNY pond (which is so small and low it is a marsh) and spotted a Lesser Yellowlegs on Labor Day.
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