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Subject:

Solitary Sandpiper at Oxbow; Martins at Swan Creek

From:

stanley arnold

Reply-To:

stanley arnold

Date:

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:16:54 -0400

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)
>