Annual Waterfowl Fieldtrip
Sleeping Bufflehead
Today the Cattaraugus County Bird Club had their Annual Waterfowl Fieldtrip along the Allegheny River and Conewango Wetland Area. We had a wonderful birding day with 53 species of birds and we survived glacial like temperatures!
Wilson’s Snipe (we had around 40 of them together)
Waterfowl observed included: Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Mallards, Blackduck, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Woodduck, Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Common Goldeneye, Canada Goose, Tundra Swan and American Coot.
Rusty Blackbird
Although waterfowl was our target species . . . we did observe a few other great birds like the Ruffed Grouse, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle (2 different nests), Northern Harrier, Turkey Vulture, Killdeer, Eastern Meadowlark, American Robin, Eastern Bluebird, Song Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Wild Turkey, and the many other commonly found birds.
Hooded Merganser
My first for 2008 birds observed included the Common Loon, Common Snipe, Horned Lark, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Tree Swallow, Rusty Blackbird, and Belted Kingfisher (CHECK)!!
Tundra Swans
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Hey Mr. Tom: I have a questionWhen should we have our birdfeeder up? We had one filled during the winter, but during the spring, summer, and fall, should we keep it?
29 March 2008 at 8:16 pm
Looks like spring is really trying to creep into your area. Such fun.
29 March 2008 at 8:55 pm
Great day, Tom! I just love that male Hoody – the females let me get close to them but the males high-tail it away from me :o/
29 March 2008 at 9:22 pm
53 species of bird? Wow–is that a record day? I would think it is.
29 March 2008 at 9:31 pm
@ Science Guy, I keep mine out all year but during the summer and late spring bring the feeder inside due to critters! It depends if you want to keep on feeding the birdies! But, you do have a better chance of having critters during the spring, summer and fall months if you do feed them!
@ Lisa – Spring hasn’t come quick enough! LOL
@ Mary – thanks and all ducks are hard to photograph!
@ KGMom – good for this time of the year! Thanks
29 March 2008 at 10:48 pm
What a GREAT day, Tom! Yay!
29 March 2008 at 10:49 pm
My son is sitting with me today and he says he liked your post a lot! I think it’s so great that you caught sight of your 08 kingfisher.. I have yet to ever encounter one of those Hooded Merganser and I would LOVE too! Once again really brilliant shots Tom! (I saw on ebird that some believe the rusty blackbird numbers are crashing… I’ve never seen one myself.) Fabulous post Tom (I agree with my teenage son!)
29 March 2008 at 10:51 pm
@ Pam – thanks!
@ aullori – thanks for your kind words and maybe this is an opportunity to get him outside to enjoy nature! Maybe let him take some pictures with your camera?? Let him write something up for your blog? Regarding the Rusty Blackbirds, ya and many others have been doing a great job in getting the word out with their blogs!
29 March 2008 at 11:11 pm
Tom- Love the sleeping buffleheads. What a fantastic name. Can’t believe you guys still have snow!
Tom
29 March 2008 at 11:20 pm
Looks like a nice trip 🙂
Great pics!
30 March 2008 at 1:13 am
Great photos and blog. Thanks for sharing. It’s like extra hours birding when reading the blogs.
30 March 2008 at 1:33 am
All nice photos but I especially love the Hooded Merganser one!
30 March 2008 at 6:31 am
Great that you saw a rusty blackbird. I see there is a count of them going on. I have never been able to pick one out from among the thousands of RWBBs we see.
30 March 2008 at 6:51 am
Wow, what a great day Tom! Worth the cold temps indeed!
30 March 2008 at 9:06 am
@ Tom – thanks and we sure do still have snow! Ugg!
@ Mel – Thanks and it was a great trip!
@ Troy – Thanks and glad you enjoyed!
@ Me and your camera – Thanks
@ Jayne – thanks and it’s still cold outside!
30 March 2008 at 9:39 am
Dear Tom,
Wonderful outing! So many great birds you saw.
You inspire me to get out out of my backyard.
Sherry
30 March 2008 at 11:18 am
Those are some really super bird shots. This past week I was very excited to see my first hooded merganser of the year on the pond behind where I work.
30 March 2008 at 12:07 pm
“Maybe let him take some pictures with your camera?? Let me write something up for your blog?” ~you. that’s a great idea – the girls and I are starting bird counts today. 🙂 I’ll let them post on that subject! (expect it soon!)
30 March 2008 at 1:46 pm
Very nice bird shots–looks like a great day for birding.
30 March 2008 at 3:41 pm
That’s quite a list! I do love those Hooded Mergansers. We have such beautiful waterfowl around now. All the 10 years I’ve lived in this area I never took a close look at all the waterfowl out on the lake. I was really missing a lot. Now I’m shopping for a scope to see them really up close. Any suggestions?
30 March 2008 at 5:08 pm
You are a great birder! How do you see so many birds in one day?
30 March 2008 at 6:10 pm
Gorgeous merganser! I’m always amazed how unfazed waterfowl are by ‘glacial temps’.
Still not time to put away the thermals :0)
30 March 2008 at 7:36 pm
Great waterfowl day! You’re obviously much better at identifying this group than I am. Nice job!
30 March 2008 at 10:07 pm
@ Sherry – thanks and you should always get out and enjoy nature! Enjoy
@ DougT – thanks and they are such neat birds!
@ aullori – its wonderful to get the kids outside to enjoy nature! Can’t wait to see!
@ Joan – thanks and it was for sure, cold but good bird day!
@ Linda – thanks and scopes are very helpful! Glad you are exploring them now!
@ Samuel – thanks and last May we found 110 species in one day! It helps to hit the hot spots! Actually, the 53 wasn’t including the 7 or 8 species that I was able to add with my feeder birds!
@ Cathy – Thanks and glad you enjoyed my “Glacial Temps”!! I couldn’t figure out how to express how cold it was! That’s the best I could do!
@ Zen – thanks and we just identify each bird at a time! After a while it doesn’t take that long to build up a list!
30 March 2008 at 11:39 pm
I saw kingfishers yesterday, too! I was thinking about your waterfowl survey while I watched on Spatterdock pond as gulls harassed the mergansers (hooded and common) and stole their fish! Rotten, lazy birds!
31 March 2008 at 7:50 am
We didn’t find as many species while looking for waterfowl this weekend but had a great time!!
I love that Hooded Merganser photo!! My favorite duck!!
31 March 2008 at 9:23 am
Nice list – much more varied that I had on Saturday. Looks cold, though!
31 March 2008 at 11:41 am
How awesome, Tom! I would give anything to go on one of your trips!
31 March 2008 at 6:33 pm
@ Jen – thanks and how fun to have watched!
@ Birdfreak – glad you have a great time and also good to get all those people out!
@ Marty – thanks and we worked hard for all these birds!
@ Lisa – Thanks and anytime you want you are welcome to join me!
31 March 2008 at 7:44 pm
Great count!
1 April 2008 at 4:30 am
Wow! Awesome day and great photos as always.-Someone was just teling me that Rusty Blackbird numbers are in rapid decline.-I haven’t read much about this-do you know anything about it?
3 April 2008 at 8:55 pm
Gosh, you certainly are well-blessed with a variety!
What an incredible time you had. WOW!
7 April 2008 at 9:22 am