Just before noon, I arrived at East Bangor Dam and began scoping the area. Two Mute Swans easily stuck out among the many waterfowl there.
I counted 55 Ring-necked Ducks, 38 Wood Ducks, 11 Green-winged Teal, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, 2 Buffleheads, 2 American Wigeon, and a Great Blue Heron.
A Swamp Sparrow that briefly sang from the cattails was my first-of-the-year, known as an "FOY" bird.
Birds seen in the air included a Sharp-shinned Hawk (FOY), a Cooper's Hawk, 8 Tree Swallows, a Northern Rough-winged Swallow (FOY), 2 Common Ravens, and an Osprey (FOY).
I took the short drive over to Lake Minsi and scanned both the west and east sides. I arrived at a total of 122 Ring-necked Ducks, 6 Double-crested Cormorants (FOY), 5 Great Blue Herons, 3 Bald Eagles, 3 Tree Swallows, 2 Mute Swans, and a Wood Duck.
A quick stop at Echo Lake produced 32 more Ring-necked Ducks, 3 Buffleheads, and another 'fly-by' Osprey.
The next stop was near the Martins Creek power plant. There, I found 11 Ring-necked Ducks, 9 Buffleheads, 7 Ruddy Ducks, 7 Green-winged Teal, an American Wigeon, and an American Coot.
Nearby were 4 American Kestrels and a fairly-distant Eastern Meadowlark (FOY).
From there, I headed to the Regency ponds. The north pond held 19 Buffleheads, one continuing male Blue-winged Teal, and a Ring-necked Duck among 16 Mallards and 14 Canada Geese. The Wilson's Snipe had been last seen on the 23rd. I searched the shoreline in the favored area and found one Wilson's Snipe tucked in behind the concrete drain. Whether it was the same continuing bird or a new migrant is anyone's guess.
When I searched the cove of the north pond, I spotted a Killdeer tucked in behind that concrete drain.
Yet another of the total of 8 Killdeer was also apparently trying to hide behind another small block of concrete.
While looking at the Snipe, I noticed an adult Bald Eagle circling overhead.
In the next few minutes, I watched a Common Raven and a Cooper's Hawk fly by.
My last stop was at Green Pond. There, I found a total of 5 Eastern Phoebes (FOY). Three were along the edge of the Farmersville Road retention pond and two were at the little pond by the house at the intersection.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE:
ARE YOU the "BAD APPLE?" While I was at the Regency ponds, one of the residents came over to me and told me that a photographer was seen INSIDE the fence the other day trying to get a photo of a bird in the north pond. If this is you, I want you to know that they have a description of your car AND the license plate number. If you are seen there by the residents, you will be asked to leave. It was also shared with me and I will be watching for it, too. So, I hope the prize photo that you got was all worth it. I thought this should be mentioned. We have to police ourselves if we want to be able to continue to bird in the remaining spots that we have.
No comments:
Post a Comment