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Author: Peter Kasper
See the following link information concerning the
Current Status of Access to Fermilab
Year List: Contains the list of birds seen so far this year.
Seasonal List: The list of birds recorded on site at this time of year.
Thursday, May 11, 2023
In the Big Woods today we saw
Common Yellowthroat,
Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Northern Parula,
Tennessee Warbler,
Golden-winged Warbler,
Eastern Peewee,
Great Crested Flycatcher,
Red-eyed Vireo,
Downy Woodpecker,
Hairy Woodpecker,
Red-bellied Woodpecker, Flicker,
Gray-
cheeked Thrush,
Veery,
Scarlet Tanager,
Rose-breasted Grosbeak,
Cardinal,
Baltimore Oriole, Chickadee,
Palm Warbler,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Field Sparrow, Robin,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Turkey Vulture.
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
It was a treat to do some birding in the Lab today, due to the need
to renew my badge for this weekend's Spring Count. Peter, Donna and
I were approved to conduct the count, with restrictions. Bird activity was quite good, but migrants were not well represented,
particularly the flycatchers (none found), warblers and sparrows.
Sparrow found, albeit in small numbers, were
Field Sparrows,
White-throated Sparrows,
Savannah Sparrows,
Song Sparrows and a
Swamp Sparrow. Warblers, again in small numbers, included
Common Yellowthroat,
Northern Parula,
Yellow Warblers,
Palm Warblers and
Myrtle Warblers. All three of the original
Osprey nests had female
Ospreys brooding eggs. The new eagle's nest was being brooded,
except the brooder was a
Canada Goose (about 40 ft above ground).
Other highlights included
Blue-winged Teal (quite a few around the
Lab),
Ruddy Duck (pr),
Chimney Swifts (quite a few in the Lake's Region),
Soras,
Sandhill Cranes (pr), a
Green Heron,
Turkey Vultures, a
Red-eyed Vireo (new),
House Wrens (new),
Sedge Wrens (new, quite a few),
Eastern Bluebirds and
Gray Catbirds. Dave
Monday, May 3, 2021
Wally did report an uptick in the passerine migration this last week
of April. His most interesting observation was: "The highlight of
the week, well, I suppose it goes to my thought that I had observed
something never before seen in science (I looked it up; it does
happen, but rarely). A
Canada Goose has taken up residence in the
Bald Eagle nest. Based on seeing it in the nest 4 out of the last 6
days, I'd say she is sitting on eggs. I just think that is an awful
long drop for the babies. Interestingly, the
Bald Eagles are still
in the vicinity." Water related birds included
Mute Swan (4 in Lake Logo),
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Gadwall,
Ruddy Duck,
Pied-billed Grebe,
Sora,
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Wilson's Snipe,
Spotted Sandpiper,
Caspian Tern,
Double-crested Cormorant,
American White Pelican,
Great Blue Heron,
Great Egret and
Green Heron. Warblers and Sparrows showed a marked increase including Black-and-White Warbler,
Nashville Warbler,
Northern Parula,
Yellow Warbler,
Palm Warbler,
Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Chipping Sparrow,
Field Sparrow,
White-crowned Sparrow,
White-throated Sparrow,
Savannah Sparrow,
Song Sparrow and
Swamp Sparrow. The bird of the week, with only one
previous sighting in the Lab, was clearly a
Summer Tanager. Other bird highlights included
Chimney Swift,
Turkey Vulture,
Osprey,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Great Horned Owl,
Barred Owl,
Belted Kingfisher,
American Kestrel,
Peregrine Falcon (3rd week in a row,
"We have seen remnants of at least 4 pigeons at Wilson Hall.
Potential nesting attempt?"),
Horned Lark,
Northern Rough-winged Swallow,
Tree Swallow,
Barn Swallow,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Gray Catbird,
Brown Thrasher,
Eastern Bluebird,
Eastern Towhee,
Eastern Meadowlark and
Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Dave
Saturday, April 24, 2021
Here is Wally's list from Apr 19-22 (he is using the Fermi Bird List week demarcations for reporting.) There are some really nice birds
included but it looks like the passerine migration is still
sluggish. Waterfowl were represented by
Canada Goose,
Mute Swan (4
in Lake Logo),
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Mallard and
Hooded Merganser. Other water related birds included
Pied-billed Grebe,
Sora,
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Wilson's Snipe,
Double-crested Cormorant,
American White Pelican,
Great Blue Heron and
Great Egret. Raptor type birds were
Turkey Vulture,
Osprey,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Barred Owl,
American Kestrel and
Peregrine Falcon. Other birds of note were
Eastern Phoebe,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Brown Thrasher,
Chipping Sparrow,
Field Sparrow,
Song Sparrow,
Eastern Meadowlark and
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Dave
Friday, April 23, 2021
This week (Apr 19-23) Donna reported the following interesting birds
found in A.E. Sea or Dusaf Pond: a
Mute Swan (only one),
Wood Ducks,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shovelers, a
Spotted Sandpiper, Lone
American White Pelican (two days),
Great Egrets,
Great Blue Herons,
Pied-billed Grebes and
Tree Swallows. Dave
Friday, April 16, 2021
Wally's report for April 9-15 still included a nice mix of waterfowl
including
Canada Goose,
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
Mallard,
Green-winged Teal,
Ring-necked Duck,
Lesser Scaup,
Hooded Merganser and
Ruddy Duck. As expected at this
time of year, he mentioned finding several first-of-the-year birds
including the
Ruddy Duck,
Caspian Tern,
Brown Thrasher and
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Each week recently the list of birds found
has been growing. This week's highlights included:
Pied-billed Grebe,
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane (pair has been hanging out on
A.E. Sea flats),
Double-crested Cormorant,
American White Pelican,
Great Blue Heron,
Great Egret,
Turkey Vulture,
Osprey,
American Kestrel,
Eastern Phoebe,
Horned Lark,
Tree Swallow,
Eastern Bluebird,
Savannah Sparrow,
Song Sparrow,
Eastern Meadowlark,
Brown-headed Cowbird and
Common Grackle. Finally, he mentioned
finding both adult
Bald Eagles on the edge of the nest. He added
that "it is quite possible that an adult incubating eggs could be
completely hidden from view" in the nest. Hopefully, more positive
info on this topic will follow. Donna added a
Wilson's Snipe to the
list of birds Wally found during the week. Again, it was found in
the A.E. Sea Slots from Batavia Road. Wally later added a great
bird that was confirmed by an independent sighting by another Lab employee, a
Peregrine Falcon. Dave
Monday, April 12, 2021
Like Wally, Donna also found the pair of
Mute Swans last week. In addition, she witnessed them fly from the Slots area at the south end
of A.E. Sea over her head and land in Dusaf Pond. To the week's list
she also added a
Wilson's Snipe and a
Northern Harrier along North Eola Road. Dave
Friday, April 9, 2021
Wally reported a good number of new year birds this past week. His overall best sighting was a single
American White Pelican (new for
year) on A.E. Sea. As he stated, "I don't think I've ever seen a
lone pelican, it looked lonely." There was still a nice mix of
waterfowl in the lakes including:
Canada Goose,
Mute Swan (new for
year),
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
Mallard,
Ring-necked Duck,
Lesser Scaup,
Bufflehead and
Common Merganser. Another highlight of his report was that now all 3
Osprey nests have birds in their areas. Other new year birds
include
Pectoral Sandpiper,
Lesser Yellowlegs,
Barn Swallow (one
flying solo),
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
Golden-crowned Kinglet and
Field Sparrow. Other highlights for his week were:
Pied-billed Grebe,
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane (pair has been hanging out on A.E. Sea flats),
Double-crested Cormorant,
Great Blue Heron,
Great Egret,
Turkey Vulture,
Red-tailed Hawk,
American Kestrel,
Eastern Phoebe,
Horned Lark,
Tree Swallow,
American Tree Sparrow,
Fox Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco, Savanna Sparrow,
Song Sparrow (lots of them),
Eastern Meadowlark,
Brown-headed Cowbird and
Common Grackle. Dave
Friday, April 2, 2021
Wally's end of the month report (Mar 29-31) included a nice mix of
waterfowl though overall numbers still remain low. Waterfowl found
included:
Canada Goose,
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
Mallard,
Redhead,
Ring-necked Duck,
Lesser Scaup,
Common Merganser and
Red-breasted Merganser (pair, new for year).
In the good
news department, Wally spotted 3 adult
Bald Eagles in the area of
the nest. Unfortunately, they were not seen near but not at the
nest. Conversely in the bad news department, Wally mentioned that
in the aftermath of one of the prescribed burns, an active
American Woodcock nest was found destroyed by the flames. His bird of the
week was a
Brown Creeper (new, year). He mentioned that this
species had been eluding him until now. His other major highlight
was noting that the
Ospreys have returned to both Nest 1 and Nest 2. Some of the other birds mentioned were
American Coot,
Killdeer,
American Woodcock,
Double-crested Cormorant,
Great Blue Heron,
Turkey Vulture,
Bald Eagle (an additional juv.),
Cooper's Hawk,
Northern Flicker,
American Kestrel,
Eastern Phoebe,
Horned Lark,
Eastern Meadowlark,
Brown-headed Cowbird and
Common Grackle. Dave
Monday, March 29, 2021
Wally added another 2 new year birds to the Lab this past week (Mar 22-26), including a near, on schedule
Eastern Phoebe and a late
arriving
Common Grackle. The disturbing portion of his report was
that he did not find the
Bald Eagles this past week and had not seen
them on the nest for some time. This would most likely place them
out of the nesting period for the year. Though he stated there were
not a large number of waterfowl around, he did have good variety
including:
Canada Goose,
Wood Duck,
Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
American Wigeon,
Mallard,
Ring-necked Duck,
Lesser Scaup and
Common Merganser. Other interesting finds for the
week were:
Pied-billed Grebe,
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Double-crested Cormorant,
Great Blue Heron,
Turkey Vulture,
Barred Owl (Adam found again),
Hairy Woodpecker,
American Kestrel,
Tree Swallow,
Eastern Bluebird,
American Tree Sparrow,
Fox Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco,
Song Sparrow,
Eastern Meadowlark and
Brown-headed Cowbird. Dave
Sunday, March 28, 2021
Donna's weekly report included 2 new year bird species including a
Great Egret and a number of
Tree Swallows. Waterfowl diversity was
down a little. Those found were
Canada Geese,
Mallards,
Wood Ducks,
Northern Shovelers,
Ring-necked Ducks and
Common Mergansers. Other highlights included a pair of
Pied-billed Grebes, a possible pair of
Sandhill Cranes and a
Great Blue Heron. All these birds were found
in A.E Sea or Dusaf Pond. Unfortunately, the cattails on the south
side of Batavia Road in A.E. Sea have not yet emerged. The Slots,
that were cut several years ago in these cattails, were a great
habitat for marsh birds. It is hard to tell whether this habitat
will return. Finally, along North Eola Road, Donna found 2
Northern Harriers (hunting the fields) and
Eastern Meadowlarks. Dave
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Wally's report from the week of Mar. 15-19 stated that waterfowl
numbers appeared to be down but still with some diversity. Included in his list were:
Canada Goose,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
Mallard,
Canvasback,
Redhead,
Ring-necked Duck,
Lesser Scaup and
Common Merganser. On the other hand, sparrows appeared to be on the
upswing. Those found were
American Tree Sparrow,
Fox Sparrow (first of year),
Dark-eyed Junco,
White-throated Sparrow and
Song Sparrow. Other interesting finds were
Pied-billed Grebe,
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Great Blue Heron,
Northern Harrier,
Bald Eagle,
Hairy Woodpecker,
Northern Flicker (first of year),
American Kestrel,
Eastern Meadowlark and
Brown-headed Cowbird. Wally further
mentioned a couple of sightings from March 6th by a new physicist at
the Lab. They were a
Rough-legged Hawk and a
Barred Owl. Dave
Sunday, March 21, 2021
Donna reported mostly waterfowl and water-related birds again this
week, with a pair of
Canvasbacks (new for the year), as her top bird.
They were found in Dusaf Pond along with several
Lesser Scaup (I'm
assuming they were) and
Common Mergansers. Across the road, at A.E.
Sea, she found
Northern Shovelers, more
Common Mergansers, a
Pied-billed Grebe, and an
American Coot. Along North Eola Road she
found a
couple of
Eastern Meadowlarks and an
American Kestrel on the kestrel
nest box. Dave
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Wally's workload defines his monitoring possibilities, and last week
(Mar 8-12)
did not allow much time for birds. He still was able to report a
good
number of waterfowl including
Canada Goose,
Wood Duck,
Northern Shoveler,
American Wigeon,
Mallard,
Ring-necked Duck,
Lesser Scaup,
Common Goldeneye,
Hooded Merganser and
Common Merganser. Besides the
Wood Duck, he scored several more "first of the year birds"
including:
Ring-billed Gull,
Turkey Vulture,
Song Sparrow,
Brown-headed Cowbird and
Rusty Blackbird. Other highlights found were
Sandhill Crane,
Killdeer,
Northern Harrier,
Bald Eagle,
Great Horned Owl and
American Kestrel. Dave
Sunday, March 14, 2021
Donna continues to report on birds found in the A.E. Sea slots along
Batavia Road, as she passes the area on her way to and from work. Even though this area is an exceedingly small percentage of the birding area
in the Lab, some interesting birds have been found here in recent
years. Her sightings during the second week of March included:
Canada Goose,
Mallard,
Northern Shovelers,
Blue-winged Teal, American Widgeon,
Bufflehead,
Hooded Merganser,
Common Merganser,
American Coot,
Killdeer and
Red-winged Blackbirds. Dave
Saturday, March 6, 2021
On her way into work today Donna reported a pair of
Sandhill Cranes displaying in the Village. While the slots along Batavia Road provided
a pair of
Buffleheads, a male
Hooded Merganser,
Mallards,
Canada Geese,
and many
Red-winged Blackbirds. At Andy's Pond 2 pair of
Common Mergansers and 5
Double-crested Cormorants were found. Dave
Friday, March 5, 2021
As expected for the beginning of March, Wally's highlights were
dominated by waterfowl. It was a very nice list including:
Greater White-fronted Goose,
Cackling Goose,
Canada Goose,
Tundra Swan,
Mallard,
Redhead,
Ring-necked Duck,
Lesser Scaup,
Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneye,
Hooded Merganser and
Common Merganser. Wally reported
that even though the
Bald Eagles are getting a later start this
year, they have been spending more time around and in the nest. One factor may be that this a totally new nest this year. The remainder
of the week's highlights included:
Sandhill Crane,
Killdeer,
Northern Harrier,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Hairy Woodpecker,
American Kestrel,
Horned Lark and
Eastern Bluebird. Dave
Friday, February 26, 2021
Wally said the highlights for the week were a
Redhead and an
American Black Duck. As the ice started to have holes in it, waterfowl started
moving in. There was a large change over the period of the week. His highlights for the week included:
Canada Goose,
Mallard,
American Black Duck,
Redhead,
Common Goldeneye,
Hooded Merganser,
Common Merganser,
Bald Eagle,
Hairy Woodpecker,
Horned Lark and
White-throated Sparrow.
Dave
Friday, February 19, 2021
The cold and snow during the week continued to suppress Wally's bird
sightings throughout the Lab. His biggest disappointment was not
spotting either of the
Bald Eagles. His highlight for the week was
finding several
Lapland Longspurs, some showing breeding colors, along
with some
Horned Larks. The remainder of his highlights included
Common Goldeneye,
Common Merganser,
Hairy Woodpecker and
White-throated Sparrow. Dave
Friday, February 5, 2021
Wally's bird of the week and a first for the year, a
Rough-legged Hawk,
has been quite rare over the last few years. Another first of the year
were the
Eastern Bluebirds he reported. Other highlights on his weekly
list were:
Common Goldeneye,
Common Merganser,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Hairy Woodpecker,
American Tree Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco and
White-throated Sparrow. Dave
Friday, January 29, 2021
Even though Wally's list for the week is fairly short, it included some
very nice birds. At the head of the list was an
Eastern Meadowlark which is about a month earlier than expected. Even more interesting is
the weather conditions the bird migrated into. I say migrated because
there were two separate sightings which included at least 2 to 3 birds.
Other birds of interest were
Common Goldeneye,
Common Merganser,
Northern Harrier,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Hairy Woodpecker,
American Kestrel,
Northern Shrike (another great bird) and
Horned Lark. Dave
Friday, January 22, 2021
Wally reported that not many exciting birds were found over the last
two weeks. A winter lull is to be expected until the first migrants
return, typically mid to late February. Some waterfowl may appear
sooner depending upon the availability of open water. His recent finds
included
Common Goldeneye,
Common Merganser,
Great Blue Heron,
Sharp-shinned Hawk,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Hairy Woodpecker,
American Kestrel and
Red-breasted Nuthatch. Dave
Friday, January 8, 2021
Wally submitted a list of the first 29 birds found in the Lab for 2021.
The list was acquired during the week of Jan 4 to Jan 8. Several exceptionally good birds were included in the list. The highlights of
those birds found were
Common Goldeneye,
Common Merganser,
Herring Gull,
Great Blue Heron,
Sharp-shinned Hawk,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Great Horned Owl,
Hairy Woodpecker,
American Kestrel,
Horned Lark, and
Snow Bunting. Dave
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Wally submitted a brief list of birds found during this shortened week.
Most of the expected winter residents were listed. Of note were
Common Goldeneye,
Common Merganser,
Ring-billed Gull,
Herring Gull,
Northern Harrier,
Bald Eagle and
Red-tailed Hawk. Dave
Saturday, December 19, 2020
Today was the annual Christmas Bird Count. Due to the COVID-19
Pandemic and continued limited access to Fermilab, the Count was
performed by a much smaller group than typically is assembled.
Although the weather conditions were very good, the overall number
of species was below the 25-year average of about 50 species.
Whether the low number of 45 species recorded was due to the reduced
number of participants or a reduced number of birds in the Lab is
hard to tell. I will say many times during the day we had numerous
stretches of recording little or no bird activity. A reasonably
nice list of waterfowl was compiled including
Canada Geese,
American Black Ducks,
Mallards, a
Ring-necked Duck, a
Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneyes,
Hooded Mergansers (32, an all-time record for the entire
Fermi Circle) and
Common Mergansers. Other water related birds
included a
Wilson's Snipe,
Great Blue Herons (3),
Ring-billed Gulls,
Herring Gulls and a
Belted Kingfisher. Raptors were represented by
the resident pair of
Bald Eagles,
Red-tailed Hawks (16) and
Northern Harriers (8, 5 seen at one time hunting the Dog
Fields late in the
afternoon). In addition, 9
Great Horned Owls were found throughout
the day, starting with the early morning, unsuccessful, search for
Screech Owls. Wally flushed the only
Short-eared Owl of the day
inside the Main Ring. The expected woodpeckers including
Red-bellied Woodpeckers (19),
Downy Woodpeckers (28),
Hairy Woodpeckers (7) and
a
Northern Flicker were recorded.
Blue Jays (31) and
American Crows (24) numbers were on the high side while
Black-capped Chickadees (64) were about average.
Brown Creepers (3) and
White-breasted Nuthatches (21) numbers were about typical while
Red-breasted Nuthatches (8), though not at irruption numbers, were well
represented. Sparrows were well represented in species count though
only the expected winter species were found in good numbers. Found were
American Tree Sparrows (53),
Savannah Sparrow (1),
Fox Sparrows (4),
Song Sparrow (1),
Swamp Sparrows (2),
White-throated Sparrow (1) and
Dark-eyed Juncos (57). All other more common/expected birds
were close to their expected numbers. Some notable misses were
Cooper's Hawk,
American Kestrel,
Eastern Screech-Owl (though rare in
recent years, we did have one last year),
Long-eared Owl,
Northern Shrike,
Horned Lark,
Golden-crowned Kinglet,
Eastern Bluebird,
Cedar Waxwing and any blackbird species. Dave
Friday, December 18, 2020
Waterfowl diversity dropped a little this week with Wally finding only
Canada Goose,
Mallard,
Common Goldeneye and
Common Merganser. Two
Northern Harriers were found on Friday; hope they stay around for
tomorrow's CBC. Other highlights included
Bald Eagle,
Hairy Woodpecker,
American Kestrel,
American Tree Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco and
White-throated Sparrow. Dave
Friday, December 11, 2020
Wally still found a bit of diversity in the waterfowl around the Lab this week. Those found were
Canada Goose,
Northern Shoveler,
Mallard,
Common Goldeneye,
Hooded Merganser and
Common Merganser. Three
Bald Eagles were found including 2 adults and a juvenile that appeared to be
fairly close to maturity. His other highlight was an
Eastern Meadowlark. A
Great Horned Owl and an
American Kestrel also were birds
of note. Dave
Friday, December 4, 2020
From Wally's report for the week, it appears birding in the Lab has
slowed considerably. As he said of the birding, "Bit of a
lackluster
week for sure." He did search for possible crossbills, etc. He said,
"There is a fair amount of cone production and looks like some has
been
tampered with. The only thing I saw in conifers was juncos. Lots of
juncos. Lakes were also frozen over towards the end of last week,
so
waterfowl diversity dropped." Some of the birds he did find were
Northern Shoveler,
Mallard,
Common Goldeneye,
Hooded Merganser,
Sandhill Crane,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle, RT Hawk and
Great Horned Owl. Dave
Friday, November 27, 2020
Due to a short week and bad weather Wally's bird list this week was
shorter than normal. However, waterfowl continue to be found in good
numbers including
Canada Goose (One interesting individual had about
half its neck feathers white while the other half were the typical dark
color.),
Tundra Swan,
Northern Shoveler,
Mallard,
Green-winged Teal,
Ring-necked Duck,
Common Goldeneye,
Hooded Merganser and
Common Merganser. Other birds of interest were
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Bald Eagle (pair sitting next to each other),
American Kestrel and
Eastern Meadowlark (4 on Eola Rd). Dave
Friday, November 20, 2020
Wally's weekly report was slightly smaller this week mainly due to
his work schedule. Waterfowl were reduced in variety. Those found
were
Tundra Swans (4 in Nepese
Marsh),
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
American Wigeon,
Mallard,
Green-winged Teal and
Hooded Merganser.
Raptors included
Northern Harrier,
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle (he
sent us a picture of one atop their new nest; it is looking quite
substantial) and
Red-tailed Hawk. His bird of the week was a
Winter Wren found in the Garden Club. Other highlights included:
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane (3 sandhills wandering around together north of
Wilson Rd - So guessing this is a likely pair with a colt),
Great Blue Heron,
Golden-crowned Kinglet,
American Tree Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco,
White-throated Sparrow and
Swamp Sparrow. Dave
Friday, November 13, 2020
Most of Wally's birding this week took place on the eastern lakes,
the Garden Club, Main Ring Lake and its associated grasslands. The week proved to be exceptionally good for waterfowl with 15 species
reported starting with a group of about 8
Trumpeter Swans that
strangely included a lone
Tundra Swan on Lake Law. The remaining
waterfowl included
Canada Goose,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
American Wigeon,
Mallard,
Northern Pintail,
Green-winged Teal,
Canvasback (2 Monday, 1 Friday),
Lesser Scaup,
Bufflehead,
Hooded Merganser,
Common Merganser (female) and
Ruddy Duck. Another highlight was a lone
Rusty Blackbird perched in a tree near the
eastern border of the Lab. Other birds of mention were:
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Great Blue Heron,
Bald Eagle,
Rough-legged Hawk,
Great Horned Owl,
American Kestrel,
Eastern Bluebird,
American Tree Sparrow,
Fox Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco,
White-throated Sparrow,
and
Swamp Sparrow. His most interesting sighting was finding a
leucistic
American Robin, I assume in the Sparrow Hedge Area. He stated, "I saw a leucistic Robin, which I saw fly briefly across the
path. I chased it until I was able to locate it. The pattern of
the bird was so unique I had no idea what the bird could be.
Anyway, it was a robin, but a special one. I'm sure the chances of
a robin with that much white on it making it to adulthood is pretty
low." Dave
Friday, November 6, 2020
Wally was back this week and reported exceptional numbers of
waterfowl. Unfortunately, he did not have much time to sort through
all of them. Those found included
Cackling Goose,
Canada Goose,
Northern Shoveler,
Gadwall,
Mallard and
Northern Pintail. Raptors made a good showing with
Cooper's Hawk,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Rough-legged Hawk and
American Kestrel. Most important was the
observation that the
Bald Eagle pair were found creating a new nest,
near the one they successfully used these past two breeding seasons.
Other highlights found during the week included
American Coot,
Sandhill Crane,
Eastern Bluebird,
Fox Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco,
White-throated Sparrow,
Song Sparrow,
Swamp Sparrow,
Common Grackle and
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Dave
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