October 23, 2009

It was another chilly day with cloudy skies and light to moderate rain in the afternoon. Winds were fairly strong out of the east.

Waterfowl: The good duck movement continued in the morning. Unfortunately, once the rain started, the movement came to a screeching hault. The highlights were scoters: 255 White-winged (200+ of which were in the first two hours), 22 Black, and 13 Surf. Red-breasted Mergansers had a good day with 433 seen and Long-tailed Ducks dropped off significantly from the last two days with "only" 190 seen. 3 species of dabblers were seen, the highlight being 10 American Black Ducks. Other species were Common and Red-throated Loon, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, and Horned and Red-necked Grebe.

Shorebirds: A fun day with a movement of Dunlin- 73 total were seen in a few groups of 20-30. The day after the first White-rumped Sandpiper of the year, another one flew by today.

Other: Snow Buntings continue to increase-- more than 50 were seen on the beach today.

Tom Prestby
Waterbird Counter