WEATHER: It was a beautiful, crisp, fall morning out at the point. Winds were light out of the west and skies were clear most of the count. Temperatures ranged from 8-12 Celsius.
OVERALL MOVEMENT: The movement today was decent during the morning and although things slowed considerably later in the afternoon, it was never completely dead. About 2500 birds passed by including a decent flight by Long-tailed Duck with about 1000 birds. Three species of migrants were seen every hour: Red-breasted Merganser, White-winged Scoter, and Long-tailed Duck. Speaking of Long-tailed Duck, it was the most numerous species today.
DUCKS & GEESE: The variety today was rather low. Some species seen today included MALLARD, NORTHERN PINTAIL, and GREEN-WINGED TEAL. Many less flocks of Aythya were seen today but they still included a mix of SCAUP and REDHEAD. About 170 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 15+ SURF SCOTERS, and 15 BLACK SCOTERS passed by. It was another decent day for LONG-TAILED DUCKS with about 1000 seen. Also counted were COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD (100+), HOODED MERGANSER (1), and almost 500 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS.
LOONS & GREBES: Less than 10 COMMON LOONS were seen and no Red-throated Loons were counted. A little over 100 RED-NECKED GREBES passed by in addition to 14 HORNED GREBES.
SHOREBIRDS: A single SANDERLING was seen on the beach in the 6th hour. Less than an hour later, a tight flock of about 45 DUNLIN buzzed the beach.
No swallows were seen today.
Some of the other species seen from the waterbird shack included LAPLAND LONGSPUR, SNOW BUNTING, HORNED LARK, EVENING GROSBEAK, COMMON REDPOLL, PILEATED WOODPECKER, BALD EAGLE, MERLIN, SAVANNAH SPARROW, and AMERICAN TREE SPARROW.
If you've been birding at the point lately, you've likely been baffled by our local MOURNING DOVE (which happens to have no tail!). See photo below.
During the 4th hour of the count, Chris Neri located 2 TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES inland. The photo below, although nothing great, at least shows the bird. Multiple reports have come back indicating that there are now at least 3 Solitaires.
Lastly, although not a bird, a COMMON BUCKEYE found the sunny roadside too hard to resist. See photo below.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR TOMORROW: Breezy north winds along with a 50% chance of showers. High of 44.
Good Birding,
Cory Gregory
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