Wednesday, September 30, 2009

September 30, 2009

It was the coldest day of the fall so far with temps topping out in the upper 40's. Cloudy skies gradually turned mostly sunny and brisk north winds gradually decreased throughout the day. I was hoping that the continued north winds would mean a good flight but unfortunately, I was wrong.

Waterfowl: A very slow day. Red-necked Grebes were the most common species with 61 seen. Low numbers of loons (10 Common and 8 Red-throated) and Red-breasted Mergansers (18) were seen as well as a few Scaup, Redhead, and Long-tailed Ducks to round out the divers. Dabblers had an even worse showing with 5 Mallard, 2 Green-winged Teal, 2 American Wigeon, and a Pintail.

Shorebirds: Only 2 Sanderlings and a Golden Plover. A couple more quiet days and this will no longer have it's own paragraph every day.

Gulls/Terns/Jaegers: Just the normal Ring-billeds and Herrings today.

Other: Nothing uncommon. The highlight was watching a Merlin bullet from the MErlin pole to the beach and grab an unwary and unlucky American Pipit.

Tom Prestby
Waterbird Counter

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Bird-man Tom!
Welcome to pre-winter weather!! Do you have your long underwear ready, you're need it real soon. I'm sure the "shack" is not insulated--does it have a heater? Oh well, back to the hand warmers again! Keep up the great work, your reports & pics are inspiring!
Take care,
Dr.P