April BOS Count 2009
Woodducks
Sunday was the annual April BOS Count and I truly enjoyed the most beautiful spring day looking for all these birdies! I ended up with 54 species and 441 different individuals observed within the Allegany State Park’s area of Section 24. What was even more exciting was the nine first of the year birds that I located.
Buffleheads on Red House Lake
Highlights were the significant numbers of waterfowl that were moving through the area! Waterfowl included the: Ring-necked Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Bufflehead, Mallard, Horned Grebe, and one of the Scaup species.
Surf Scoter
I was overjoyed with excitement that a pair of Surf Scoter (CHECK) were swimming out in the middle of Red House Lake. It is ironic that the Surf Scoter should be the most unlikely of the scoters to visit so far inland like this but consistently the Surf Scoter is the only species that I have found visiting this lake.
Spotted Sandpiper
Other first of the year birds included the: Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Fox Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Blue-headed Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Louisiana Waterthrush (CHECK times 8). The Spotted Sandpiper (CHECK) kept teasing me when it would land close by and then just as I would take a picture of it . . . . the bird would fly away! This continued a few times before I finally deciding to move ahead for more birdies!
Osprey working on the nest!
Osprey were seen both in Red House and in the Quaker Area. Red House’s birds were actively busy nest building after the electric company this winter had removed its old nest. I would assume that starting from scratch would take a while . . . . where Quakers birds who already had the nest mostly completed was doing some copulation already (those photos will be posted at a later time)!
Common Flicker
I ended my BOS count around 12:30 just before receiving a phone call from Young Natuarlist J who was with his family heading towards Allegany for the afternoon! They were itching to do some hiking along blacksnake trail and then a little bird banding. We were able to band a White-breasted Nuthatch, a few Black-capped Chickadees and some Dark-eyed Juncos! What a great way to end the day as with a Broad-winged Hawk flying overhead . . . . (CHECK)!
Eastern Phoebe
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Delightful birds Mon@rch. My favorite is the Flicker. They aren’t all that common to me.
20 April 2009 at 12:46 am
What a nice day you had! Beautiful weather and beautiful birds – can’t get much better than that 🙂
20 April 2009 at 9:40 am
Beautiful! We loved the Osprey, the smooth beauty of the Flicker, and those Woodducks. We’ve been trying to get close enough to those last to get a good photo (we have a small pond nearby where they’ve settled), but haven’t yet been able to sneak near enough. Thanks for bringing them up close for us =)
20 April 2009 at 4:25 pm
Excellent series. I have been so stymied by the Wood Ducks. I have been trying for the past three years to get close enough for a good image – just one and I’d be happy. But so far nothing!
20 April 2009 at 7:31 pm
Nice Tom! Great to be in the outdoors
20 April 2009 at 8:15 pm
A fine list indeed, lots I haven’t seen there. I love your Wood Ducks photo. Like Edvatza, I’ve been wanting a good look (let alone photo) for quite some time, but they’re not at all common here.
21 April 2009 at 3:53 pm
Wow what a great list and set of shots!
21 April 2009 at 6:32 pm
Nice shots, especially of the flicker.
21 April 2009 at 8:25 pm
Hope that osprey builds in a better spot.
27 April 2009 at 11:17 pm