September 5, 2009- Fogged in

It was another nice day but dense fog put a huge damper on the count. I could not see the lake until about halfway through the count and most of the morning I couldn't even see halfway to the tip of the point.

Waterfowl: Obviously, none were detected through the fog and the afternoon wasn't much better--just 5 Red-necked Grebes, a White-winged Scoter, and 4 Common Loons. A flock of 265 Canada Geese came in as the fog lifted-- they had been sitting way out on the lake in the fog the whole morning.

Shorebirds: 2 Black-bellied Plovers and a Solitary Sandpiper flew in as the fog lifted but nothing else was seen besides Sanderlings and one Baird's Sandpiper.

Other: The highlight was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk which are the least common accipiter here. Numbers of American Pipits are increasing (8 now) and a few warblers made their way out to the trees near the Sharpie sticks.

Tom Prestby

Waterbird Counter