Hi Folks,
I stopped by Oxbow Lake (Laurel, AA Co.) today (3/26), and was soon
joined there by Jay Shepard. As with most other visits there, it
appeared to be pretty dead when I arrived, but the more we scanned,
the more we found. Highlight was an early SOLITARY SANDPIPER, with
two Greater Legs and a Killdeer (Jay only) being the only other
shorebirds. Duck variety was good with WOOD DUCK, AM. WIGEON, BLACK
DUCK, BW TEAL, GW TEAL, and RING-NECK. There was also a very vocal
pair of PIED-BILLED GREBEs. After more than an hour of scanning I
finally found the group of RUSTY BLACKBIRDs, tallying about 30 of
them. I found three N. ROUGH-WINGS, among the huge swarms of Tree
Swallows. I counted 71 of these swallows perched on vegetation in the
middle of the lake, while dozens more flitted overhead. I still have
not been able to see the hybrid teal. After I left, Jay found a group
of snipe. My ebird tally appears below.
Yesterday I visited Swan Creek Wetland (AA Co. near Key Bridge) with
Ed Carlson and Stacy Epperson. Here we found two PURPLE MARTINs, two
N ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWs, and several TREE SWALLOWs, all flying over
the wetlands. One of the Rough-wings had no tail, and we thought it
was a bat at first--a very odd looking creature. The only migratory
waterbirds we encountered were two PIED-BILLED GREBEs, five
RING-NECKED DUCKs, and six AM. COOTs. A lone SAVANNAH SPARROW, was
the first I've seen here this year, and a rather sickly looking
individual. The mitigated wetland here is still heavily compressed
from the weight of snow, and is as yet devoid of avian activity.
Stan Arnold
Ferndale (AA Co.)
>
>
> Location: Oxbow Lake
> Observation date: 3/26/10
> Notes: Weather: overcast with temp around 50 and winds out of
> (north?) at about 10-15. I was joined by Jay Shepard in scanning the
> lake, and the longer we stayed, the more we found. After I left, Jay
> found a dozen or two snipe. The Solitary was rather early in the season.
> As for the Tree Swallows, 71 were counted all perched in a cluster on some
> vegetation, while dozens more swarmed overhead.
> Number of species: 27
>
> Canada Goose 14
> Wood Duck 6
> American Wigeon 3
> American Black Duck 2
> Mallard 2
> Blue-winged Teal 3
> Green-winged Teal (American) 35
> Ring-necked Duck 1
> Pied-billed Grebe 2
> Great Blue Heron 2
> Turkey Vulture 1
> Bald Eagle 1
> Red-shouldered Hawk 1
> Solitary Sandpiper 1
> Greater Yellowlegs 2
> Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
> Pileated Woodpecker 1
> American Crow 1
> Fish Crow 4
> Tree Swallow 120
> Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3
> Carolina Chickadee 1
> Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2
> Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 1
> Northern Cardinal 1
> Red-winged Blackbird 25
> Rusty Blackbird 30
>
> This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
> |